News & Events
Partnership for Strong Communities Events
Keep up-to-date on upcoming Partnership events and find materials from recent forums, press conferences and other events held by the Partnership for Strong Communities.
The Partnership for Strong Communities is located at The Lyceum, 227 Lawrence Street in Hartford, 06106. Our phone number is: 860-244-0066. Our fax number is: 860-247-4320.
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PILOTs & Community Investment Act Saved!
Partial Funding for Supportive Housing
The new state budget includes significant victories for affordable housing, along with some disappointments. Governor M. Jodi Rell announced that she will allow the budget passed by the legislature early on the morning of September 1 to become law without her signature. Among the housing highlights:
- PILOTs and Tax Abatement Grants
The budget restores $3.9 million for Payments-in-lieu-of-Taxes (PILOTs) for public housing and Tax Abatement Grants for nonprofit housing, which the Governor had eliminated in her proposed budget. These funds keep rents affordable for some of the state's poorest families, seniors and people with disabilities. - Community Investment Act
Funding was maintained for this multi-purpose program, which dedicates document recording fees to affordable housing, farmland protection, historic preservation and open space. The housing component has supported CHFA gap financing and assistance to suburban and rural communities that initiate affordable housing. The Governor had sought to divert these resources to the General Fund for two years. - Supportive Housing
Last year, the Administration suspended funding for an additional 150 units of permanent supportive housing under the Next Steps Round III initiative. The legislature's budget provides $1.8 million in FY 10 and $2.3 million in FY 11, which should allow 50 to 100 units in shovel-ready projects to go forward. - HOMEConnecticut
Approximately $2 million, previously appropriated for incentives to municipalities that create higher density residential zones, was in danger of being lost after the Administration froze the program. The new budget carries forward these funds to FY 10. - Historic Home Rehabilitation Tax Credit
The legislature rejected the Governor's proposal to suspend this highly effective program for two years. - Connecticut Fair Housing Center
The budget provides $325,000 annually for the Center, which conducts foreclosure prevention and anti-discrimination activities. - Rental Assistance
Both the Governor and legislature consistently maintained full funding for the state Rental Assistance Program and other housing/homelessness services at DSS. - Capital Programs
Legislative action was limited to the General Fund operating budget. The legislature must reconvene to enact a bond package and budget implementation bills. The Governor's proposed budget provided no new bonding authorizations for either the DECD "Flex" Program or the Connecticut Housing Trust Fund in FY 10 and FY 11. Stay tuned for action alerts as we press for new financing resources.
Show Your Appreciation
The Governor and legislature wrestled for nine months over how to close a projected deficit of $8.7 billion in the state's $37.6 billion two-year budget. Legislators who supported the final budget stood up for meeting the state's housing needs and other essential public commitments. They have been criticized for raising taxes and failing to make further cuts.
If your legislators voted for the budget, please take the time to thank them now. In the face of withering attacks, they protected the programs you care about.
To find out how your legislators voted:
Click here for House vote tally
Click here for Senate vote tally
To e-mail your legislators:
Click here for House e-mail addresses
Click here for Senate e-mail addresses
Mailing address for all legislators:
Legislative Office Building, Hartford, CT 06106
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