Category: Local News

Westport Assessor Paul Friia today reminded residents that the Assessor’s Office and the

Human Services Department are continuing to take applications for the state and local tax relief

programs.

The programs are open to homeowners who are totally disabled or who have reached the age of

65 by the date of application.

Continue reading Applications for Tax Relief Programs Continue to be Accepted

 

GOV. MALLOY, LEGISLATIVE LEADERS, ANNOUNCE BUDGET AGREEMENT

 

Budget is Balanced, Under the Spending Cap and Contains No New Taxes

 

(HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Dannel P. Malloy, Lieutenant Governor Nancy Wyman, President Pro Tem Donald E. Williams Jr., Speaker of the House Brendan Sharkey, House Majority Leader Joe Aresimowicz, and Democratic leaders of the General Assembly today announced a budget agreement that continues to fund top priorities such as universal access to pre-kindergarten, making college more affordable, continuing to make year over year increases in local public education funding, and the Earned Income Tax Credit.

 

It does all of this with no new taxes, and in fact provides modest tax relief for working families.

 

The budget, which takes effect on July 1, is under the spending cap, and deposits the entire FY14 surplus into the state’s rainy day fund, which will grow to an estimated $314 million.  The revised General Fund budget comes in $40 million dollars below the budget that was adopted last year and holds growth to 1.6%.

 

It also eliminates keno as a source of revenue.

 

“Like any legislative session, this one wasn’t without its surprises and challenges. But the bottom line is that this budget is balanced, puts the surplus into the rainy day fund and makes real, necessary investments in the future of Connecticut families,” said Governor Malloy.  “Whether it’s moving to universal access to pre-K or providing tax relief for working families, we are taking a balanced approach that moves our state forward and leaves no one behind.”

 

“Furthering Connecticut’s priorities—education, job growth, and protecting our most vulnerable citizens is paramount,” said Lt. Governor Nancy Wyman. “I applaud Governor Malloy and legislative leaders for crafting a budget that ensures we leave a stronger, better Connecticut to our children and grandchildren.”

 

“This budget is fair, balanced and promotes economic growth,” said Senator Williams. “Putting additional resources in public schools to reach children that not currently enrolled in pre-k ensures that all of Connecticut’s children have access to a high-quality early education experience.”

 

“We have worked with the governor since February to create a responsible budget that protects working families, increases aid to our cities and towns, and does not raise taxes. I am proud to stand with Governor Malloy today to announce that we have done just that,” said Speaker Sharkey.

 

“Without raising taxes we are investing in our towns by increasing funds for municipalities and strengthening our universities and community colleges while making them more affordable for students,” said Representative Aresimowicz.  “We’ve created a budget that fully represents our priorities as a state and we’re proud of what we’ve accomplished working in conjunction with the Governor’s office.”

 

“We had a big change in our expectations at the last minute, and we did what we had to do, which is come out with a balanced budget that meets the needs of Connecticut’s families,” said state Senator Beth Bye, who is Senate Chairwoman of the Appropriations Committee.

 

Specifically, this budget:

 

• Commits to statewide access for universal pre-K by funding an additional 1,020 pre-k slots in the state’s neediest districts this year.  This proposal also lays the groundwork to serve 4,000 more children by 2018, a 40 percent increase of children served, and provides funding to help towns and providers prepare for full statewide access. Additionally, the budget invests in childcare providers with additional funding for professional development. The budget also includes funding to help create additional pre-k capacity in public school in order to address unmet need.

 

• Makes college more affordable by funding programs that invest in Connecticut residents.

 

The Go Back to Get Ahead program will allow any Connecticut resident who began their degree but has been out of the classroom for at least 18 months to take one free course for each course they take, up to three free courses in total in pursuit of a college degree.

 

‘Transform CSCU 2020’ provides Connecticut’s state community colleges and four state universities with $125.5 million to bring all 17 campuses into a single, student-centered, technology-enriched system while improving the student experience and degree completion.

 

The CHET Baby Scholars program makes it a little easier to save for college. The program will offer new parents up to a $250 investment in a tax-free college savings account for their child.

 

• Increases funding for Connecticut’s municipalities with an additional $80 million in education, PILOT and other funding.

 

• Increases the pace of transportation infrastructure investment through hiring an additional 35 engineers, so that the state can continue to fund projects like the expansion of I-84 in Waterbury, CT Fastrak and the New Haven Hartford Springfield rail line.  The current 5 year capital plan calls for a 165% increase in infrastructure spending to improve the state roads, rail and bridges.

 

• Allocates funding to keep elderly residents in their homes with $6.5 million to re-open the Tax Relief for Elderly and Disabled Renters program.  The additional money will allow an additional 12,700 citizens to receive a renter’s rebate.

 

•  Invests in mental health services by raising rates and increasing funding for uncompensated care, underserved populations and other services by more than $23 million.   The budget also creates an anti-stigma campaign and provides training for all police officers to reduce escalation of incidents involving individuals with mental illness.

 

• Moves toward long term tax relief by beginning the implementation of an income tax exemption of teachers’ pensions, extending the tax credit for angel investors and reinstating the sales tax exemption of non-prescription drugs.

 

• Invests in school security with the hiring of the staff necessary to implement the recommendations of the School Safety Infrastructure Council.

 

• Allows for the historic agreement to keep Pratt & Whitney, Sikorsky and other United Technologies Companies to remain in the state for nearly 20 years and invest $4.5 billion dollars into Connecticut’s economy.  The agreement will impact roughly 75,000 jobs in the state.

 

•  Assists the state’s long-term unemployed by creating a five-week intensive job readiness program that includes behavioral health services, financial coaching, and an eight-week subsidized work experience.  Programs like this have a placement rate of over 80%.  The budget will also create the Veteran’s Opportunity Fund, a $600,000 pilot program that will allow the Department of Labor to issue grants to homeless/housing providers to hire employment specialists and job developers who will actively seek opportunities for veterans to re-enter the workforce.

 

 

Modeled after Connecticut’s Green Bank, bank will assist in financing of clean energy, energy efficiency projects

 

WASHINGTON, DC – Along with lead author Congressman Chris Van Hollen (MD-8) and other House Democrats, Congressman Jim Himes (CT-4) introduced legislation today to establish a Federal Green Bank, modeled after Connecticut’s Green Bank, to help finance the development of clean energy and energy efficiency projects. The Green Bank Act of 2014 will increase deployment of clean energy and energy efficiency technologies by providing financing in partnership with private investors for projects that use commercialized technology but cannot deploy at scale due to lack of reasonably priced financing.

 

“The cheapest and cleanest energy is the energy we don’t use at all. We have seen remarkable gains in the renewable and energy efficiency marketplace over the last several years, and it is important that the federal government provides incentives to allow the marketplace to continue to develop and thrive,” said Himes. “Connecticut’s Green Bank’s success in financing the development of clean energy and energy efficiency projects is a testament to the positive impact public-private partnerships can have, and I am excited to help lead the effort to establish a similar institution at the national level.”

 

The Federal Green Bank will provide loans, loan guarantees, debt securitization, insurance, and other forms of financing support or risk management for qualified clean energy and energy efficiency projects.  The Green Bank will use public dollars to draw in private investors, making it easier for new projects to acquire private capital by eliminating the upfront cost of investment. And by lowering the price of clean energy for consumers, the Green Bank will help the U.S. achieve the level of clean energy investment needed to make the U.S. more energy independent and abate climate change.

 

Connecticut’s Green Bank, the Clean Energy Finance and Investment Authority (CEFIA), was established in 2011 to leverage public and private funds to drive investment and scale-up clean energy deployment in Connecticut. The first state “Green Bank” in the nation, CEFIA has served as a model for other states’ Green Banks and was the inspiration for the Green Bank Act. Since its creation, CEFIA has leveraged enough funds to produce 1,800,000 Megawatt hours of clean energy and reduce Connecticut’s carbon footprint by 250,000 tons. Last year alone, investments made by CEFIA resulted in 1,200 jobs created and energy savings equivalent to taking 2,500 cars off the road.

 

(WETHERSFIELD, CT) – Governor Dannel P. Malloy today announced that the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) is now accepting appointments for learner’s permit tests in the Old Saybrook office as part of the department’s major computer upgrade so that businesses and customers can do more transactions online without coming into a DMV office. Old Saybrook now joins Waterbury, Danbury, Bridgeport, Cheshire, Norwalk, Wethersfield, Hamden and Willimantic in offering learner’s permit testing by appointment.

 

This test-by-appointment system is part of a new and growing service DMV  started in 2012 to help customers avoid waiting in line. It captures DMV’s efforts to better integrate technology that produces taxpayer savings and makes government more responsive. The first available appointments start May 13.

“From the start, our goal has been to make it easier to do business with state agencies by streamlining government and making it more accessible to residents,” said Governor Malloy. “In particular, the current operating environment at DMV is 30 to 40 years old and does not provide the flexibility for on-going state and federal changes that will be required in the future. Through DMV’s Modernization Program, we are upgrading various pieces of antiquated technology and systems used throughout the agency in a manner that facilitates efficiency and practicality. Based on the feedback we have received from DMV customers thus far, we are making significant progress toward that goal.”

The modernization program is bringing a number of different enhancements to DMV and the most popular so far has been scheduling online a learner’s permit test. Other efficiency changes by offering online services include certain registration renewal, checks on status of licenses and registrations, and look ups for vanity plate combinations. However, test-by-appointment is the most popular. More than 90 percent of customers who have visited the eight offices so far offering the service said they would recommend it to others. Old Saybrook has become the ninth office taking appointments for teen and adult learners’ permits.

“We are making strong strides in this effort to turn around an old system that posed many inconveniences to customers. Customer convenience is at the heart of the reasons we are doing this upgrade and these all are necessary changes that we simply cannot afford not to make,” said DMV Commissioner Melody A. Currey.  “These are also complex changes to be made and while some deadlines came and went, we have held steady on a path to success and the positive results are happening. We also need to remember that technology has changed significantly in the last three decades and that has prevented us from making the service improvements until now that we feel are needed for our customers.”

The modernization of DMV’s computers has also paved the way for several other changes and more are expected by the end of 2014. In place already, for example:

·         Learner’s permit testing by appointment;

·         Leasing companies and car dealerships now have real-time connections to DMV computer; networks for registrations of customers purchasing vehicles;

·         Checking driver’s license status;

·         Check Wait Times online for DMV Offices;

·         Fill out vehicle registration form online;

·         Car dealers can now renew their business licenses online;

·         Cancel lost or stolen license plates;

·         Online registration renewal for certain registrations for those owners who don’t owe property taxes, have late emissions tests due and other kinds of issues that would prohibit the renewal of a registration;

·         International Registration Plan (IRP) renewal payments for trucking companies;

·         Registration lookup;

·         Vanity plate lookup.

Coming soon by the end of the year will be the following online services:

·         Customers will be able to check online whether certain problems will cause trouble with a transaction at DMV. Problems include tax delinquencies, failure to have insurance, outstanding parking tickets and emissions test violations. This service will help fewer customers to be turned away at branches for these kinds of compliance issues.

·         Improvements to the existing online registration renewal program;

·         Reprint a registration certificate from a home or other computer ;

·         Cancel a registration online;

·         Order online special plate, such as vanity plates;

·         Order online replacements for mutilated plates;

·         Provide new option online for customers to be contacted by DMV – either by mail or e-mail.

In addition, the current cashiering system is extremely antiquated and needs to be updated. The computers overall need to connect seamlessly to each other so a complete picture of addresses, vehicles, compliance issues, such as property tax, parking tickets and emissions tests, are seen all together when a transaction is done.

 

 

First Selectman Jim Marpe will conduct a ribbon cutting ceremony and extend an official

welcome on May 13 at 2 pm, as Brightlight Capital Management, a long/short small cap

value manager, opens its new office at Sconset Square on Myrtle Avenue in Westport.

 

Mr. Marpe welcomes the growing hedge fund to town, saying “Westport is a great

environment for financial services businesses like Brightlight Capital. We wish them

great success.”

“This is a very exciting and important time for Brightlight Capital,” said Dima Rubinchik,

founder and portfolio manager of the three year old firm. “Two of our three partners

live in Westport, so the decision to move here from New York was an easy one. We

have plenty of room for our current needs and room for the firm to grow. Being close to

Westport’s retail hub is an added convenience for our employees.”

The office space was previously the home of Westport News and is located above

HB Home at Sconset Square on Myrtle Avenue. Other tenants include Bungalow,

Geiger Landscape Design, Blue Lemon Restaurant, Snip Doggy Dog and The Travel

Exchange.

 

About Brightlight Capital

Brightlight Capital seeks to achieve long-term, high risk-adjusted returns, while

preserving capital with low net exposure to the market. The fund has a concentrated

portfolio of long and short positions, focused on small cap value equities. Brightlight

Capital Partners LP was launched August 2011 by Dima Rubinchik, former partner of

Conatus Capital.