360 State St.: Sold for $160M, appraised at $115M.
New Haven land records database
New Haven cut a $166 million break for out-of-town investors in the 10 biggest real estate deals of 2022 — leaving local taxpayers with the bill in a year that was supposed to start seeing the real estate boom pay local benefits.
The break came in the form of real estate tax appraisals that ended up far lower than the prices that buyers actually paid when they determined what the true values of high-end properties should be.
The city has received a one-time windfall of $2.7 million in deferred building permit fees from the now-former owner of 360 State St., thereby closing out two parallel developer deals that date back more than a decade.
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Thomas Breen |
Oct 6, 2022 10:12 am
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City Budget Director Gormany and Mayor Elicker on Wednesday.
City of New Haven FY22 data
Last fiscal year's budget surplus data.
Increased state and Yale aid — along with vacancy-induced salary savings — helped propel city government to a $16.9 million budget surplus as well as a slightly higher credit rating.
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Thomas Breen |
Sep 13, 2022 3:38 pm
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Ed board member Darnell Goldson at Monday's alder hearing.
Board of Education member Darnell Goldson took on the role of whistleblower as he criticized the New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) contracting process as unduly shielded from public oversight, and as overly favorable to the current school bus provider.
City libraries remain closed on Sundays 11 weeks into a fiscal year in which they are supposed to be open, with the Elicker Administration citing staff shortages as the biggest roadblock so far to realizing a heralded budget promise.
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Thomas Breen |
Aug 3, 2022 12:00 pm
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Thomas Breen file photo
Cracking concrete outside of the boathouse.
Alders signed off on paying outside attorneys $159,000 in total as legal bills keep mounting for an ongoing court battle centered on cracking concrete outside of the Canal Dock Boathouse.
The Elicker Administration is now looking to pay outside attorneys $159,000 in total in a bid to hold a city-hired contractor accountable for cracking concrete outside of the Canal Dock Boathouse.
The next time New Haven decides whether to “scoop and toss” municipal debt, a small group of officials will continue to make the call without a broader debate and vote among the full Board of Alders — despite the efforts of a city alder to make a change.
At least, that was the outcome of the latest vote on an effort to change the process by which municipal debt restructurings take place.
At Monday's budget hearing, clockwise from top left: Finance Committee Chair Marchand, Newhallville Alder Avshalom-Smith, city union members filling in the chamber and calling for good contracts, Majority Leader Furlow.
Even in times of apparent fiscal plenty, New Haven’s needs are so great, its fixed costs so persistent, and its coffers so relatively strapped that taxes have to go up.
That argument prevailed Monday night as the Board of Alders approved a final new city budget that cuts the mill rate by over 9 percent, and then phases in new higher property values over two years instead of five.
Finance Chair Adam Marchand (center) with Vice-Chair Ron Hurt.
Luxury developers and megalandlords won’t get as bountiful de facto taxpayer-funded tax breaks as originally planned — because an aldermanic committee endorsed an amended new city budget that drops the mill rate by over 9 percent and phases in the latest citywide revaluation over two years instead of five.
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Thomas Breen |
Apr 26, 2022 3:37 pm
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Construction underway at 101 College St., across from Alexion bioscience building at 100 College.
Mayor's proposed FY23 budget
Projected building permit revenue -- listed as "building inspections."
The Elicker Administration expects a $1.3 million bump in building permit revenue next fiscal year, as city inspectors take on complex — and costly — new buildings like the in-the-works 10-story bioscience tower at 101 College St.
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Thomas Breen |
Apr 25, 2022 1:51 pm
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Maya McFadden photo
LCI Deputy Frank D'Amore tracking neighborhood blight.
LCI general fund positions in the mayor's proposed budget.
Will two more “neighborhood specialists” help cut down on blight, hold landlords accountable, and build trust in City Hall?
Or does New Haven need to rethink — and potentially overhaul — the structure of its anti-blight and housing-code-enforcement agency, before adding any more “generalist” positions to the city budget?
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Thomas Breen |
Apr 22, 2022 8:14 am
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Biz-district leaders at Thursday's Finance Committee meeting.
Town Green District image
Town Green's downtown domain.
Downtown’s business improvement district is looking for an extra $60,000 from city taxpayers — and a 7.5 percent surtax hike on downtown property owners — to help fund its ongoing efforts to beautify and liven up the city center.
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Thomas Breen |
Apr 18, 2022 9:33 am
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City Youth and Recreation Director Gwendolyn Busch Williams at budget workshop.
The recently reorganized city Youth and Recreation Department is looking to add two new deputy director positions to beef up programming and building maintenance.
Cop recruits take oath in November: Preparing to hit streets, cut OT costs.
The police overtime budget is slated to top $10.6 million next fiscal year, as the department grapples with its lowest number of sworn officers in decades.
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Thomas Breen |
Apr 1, 2022 9:23 am
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City Department of Community Resilience Acting Director Carlos Sosa-Lombardo presents at Wednesday night's Finance Committee hearing.
The Elicker Administration’s long-delayed plans to set up a non-cop crisis response team inched forward, as committee alders endorsed a $3.5 million contract with Yale and receipt of a $2 million federal grant.
Fair Haven Alder Ernie Santiago, Prospect Hill/Newhallville Alder Steve Winter, and Board of Alders President Tyisha Walker-Myers at budget workshop.
How low could the mill rate go if the mayor scraps his planned reval phase-in?
36? 32.7? Somewhere in between?
Top city budget officials and committee alders debated that question during the first “workshop” on Mayor Justin Elicker’s proposed $633 million budget.
Hailing Yale-city deal, clockwise from top left: Dolores Colon, Jahmal Henderson, Abby Feldman, Alejandro Rojas, Ken Suzuki, Rebecca Corbett.
A deal for Yale to increase voluntary payments to the city by $52 million over six years — and design and control a pedestrian plaza on High Street — won a key preliminary aldermanic approval, as supporters hailed a potential turning point in town-gown relations.
Patricia Wallace: Seniors, renters feeling the squeeze.
Even if the city phases in higher property values over the next five years, landlords will likely pass along higher rents next year — if the mill rate doesn’t drop further.
New York-based developer Nitsan Ben-Horin offered those words of caution during a virtual “town hall” about the mayor’s proposed Fiscal Year 2022 – 23 (FY23) budget. And he wasn’t alone, as landlords sounded an alarm.
The Corsair: FY23 tax bill with phase-in: $1.1M. Full FY23 tax bill at lower mill rate without phase-in: $1.6M.
Thomas Breen photo
360 State. Phased-in FY23 tax bill: $2.2M. Full FY23 tax bill at lower mill rate: $2.4M.
Mandy-controlled four-family home at 310 W. Division. Phased-in FY23 tax bill: $6.3K. Full FY23 tax bill at lower mill rate: $7.8K.
(News analysis) A tax-assessment phase-in aimed at helping struggling homeowners would end up reaping some of the biggest bucks for two other groups in town: luxury housing developers and poverty megalandlords.
