Hamden Council Approves $100K For Covid Response

In a long-awaited four-hour meeting Friday evening, the Hamden Legislative Council voted to allow Mayor Curt Leng to spend an additional $100,000 on Covid-19-related expenses beyond the $100,000 he is authorized to spend without legislative approval, rejecting the mayor’s request for $1 million to spend at his discretion.

Friday’s meeting over the Zoom teleconferencing app had been interrupted and rescheduled twice earlier in the week, first because internet trolls posted racist and homophobic slurs in the chat feature, and then because a Zoom link failed.

On March 16, Leng declared a public emergency due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The declaration of an emergency authorizes the mayor to spend up to $100,000 on emergency-related expenses without council approval. The council may then increase the amount of that discretionary account.

Leng submitted a request to the council that would allow him to spend up to $1 million without council approval on pandemic-related expenses.

“We’re trying to give ourselves as much flexibility as possible,” Finance Director Curtis Eatman told the council, explaining why the administration had requested $1 million. ​“This is, again, to protect us.”

So far, the town has spent $67,000 on Covid-19-related expenses (or, it has spent $17,000, and has committed to spending the rest), said Eatman. Those funds have come from an emergency and contingency account in the finance department, he said.

So far, those expenses have included the costs of disinfecting buildings and equipment and ordering protective equipment for town personnel.

The ordinance submitted to the council noted that funds spent under the mayor’s emergency allowance would be paid for with a note. A note is a form of short-term borrowing that allows the town to spend money in anticipation of revenue it does not have.

Eatman said the town will issue a tax anticipatory note (TAN) to pay for Covid-19 expenses, which will then be paid off when tax revenue comes in over the summer. He said he would be giving a presentation on May 4 before the council with a plan for closing out the fiscal year and for Covid-19 funding, but that until then, he could not comment further.

Friday’s ordinance did not give authorization for the town to borrow money. Any borrowing will have to be enacted by a separate ordinance, which will likely come before the council on May 4.

The request submitted to the council by the mayor’s office would have given the mayor the authority to spend up to $1 million on the pandemic response as he saw fit. It did not allow the council to have oversight over those funds. And for many council members, letting loose $1 million without council oversight was not in the cards.

“I don’t think we need a million dollars. I really don’t,” said Majority Leader Berita Rowe-Lewis. ​“I really need to know what it’s for. I don’t want to hand the town a million-dollar check.”

Councilman Austin Cesare introduced a motion to lower the amount to up to $500,000, with a requirement that the administration provide a plan for how funds will be spent before they are spent, as well as a report on spending after the fact.

Yet since the ordinance was simply increasing the amount of an account laid out in the town charter that allows the mayor to spend money without council approval, the council could not impose any restrictions on the funds, said the town’s bond counsel David Panico. Cesare’s motion failed.

It was clear that there was not appetite on the council to authorize $1 million, or even $500,000. But while many council members said the town should just reject the ordinance altogether and wait until the administration could present a clear picture of what exactly needs to be paid for and how it will be funded, some said they worried about not being able to pay for emergency expenses.

“We are rapidly approaching the point where we will not have more emergency funds,” said Council President Mick McGarry. ​“It is an emergency situation and we are facing extraordinary circumstances beyond what was budgeted.”

The council voted to amend the ordinance to authorize the mayor to spend another $100,000, rather than $1 million. The ordinance, as amended, passed unanimously. On May 4, the administration will have to present a plan for what expenses will need to be covered, and how the town will pay for them.

Taxes Deferred

The council also voted Friday to postpone the deadline for payment of property taxes, in accordance with an executive order issued by Gov. Ned Lamont.

Lamont’s Executive Order 7S requires that municipalities enact either or both of two possible tax-relief programs. Towns can either defer their property tax deadline to Oct. 1, or they can lower the interest rate on delinquent taxes for three months after the July tax deadline, or they can do both.

The town’s administration opted for the deferment option. Earlier in the week, New Haven decided to opt into both programs. Towns can either require residents to document why they need the tax deferment, or they can simply extend the deferment to all residents automatically. The administration chose to extend the program to all residents.

Tax Collector Kathleen Flynn told the council that her department is understaffed, and that processing the paperwork from residents seeking to receive the deferment would be a significant challenge. Furthermore, she said, it would be difficult to let residents know they had the deferment option. By extending the option to everyone, the town would avoid an administrative headache and would avoid the situation where some residents who need the program would not be able to access it because they did not hear about it in time.

Councilwoman Kathleen Schomaker introduced an amendment that would allow the town to extend the deferment to anyone who requested it. It would not require anyone to review applications and accept or reject them, but it would still allow the town to document how many people need the program, and would send a message to residents that if they can, they should pay their taxes on time, she said.

Yet the town’s hands might be tied. Both Town Attorney Sue Gruen and Assistant Town Attorney Brendan Sharkey said they were not entirely sure whether Hamden could make its own adjustments to the governor’s order. Friday’s vote, they said, was just to notify the state which program the town would pursue. It could iron out the details later.

Towns had to notify the state of which option they would pursue by Saturday, leaving Hamden no choice but to pass something Friday evening.

Schomaker withdrew her amendment, and the council passed the original motion unanimously.