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Republicans Want a State Takeover

By Jeffrey B. Cohen

April 23, 2009

City Republicans want the state to take over the city's finances, because local elected officials don't have the political will "to do what needs to be done."

Those are the words of Mike McGarry, head of the city's Republican Town Committee, which he says just authorized him to draft a letter to local and state officials asking for the takeover.

"This is an impossible situation," McGarry said. "Impossible."

Thanks to Dean Pagani for the heads up on this. (Photo: CT GOP)

Mayor Eddie A. Perez released what he called his "toughest budget ever" earlier this week, one with flat spending that promises a 13 percent, or $378, tax hike for the average city homeowner. Taxes paid by many small businesses could be much higher. As the deliberative process on the budget begins, McGarry wants his party's voice heard.

"We have too many parks, too many libraries, too many senior centers, too many schools, too many firehouses, too many police for the finances available," McGarry said. He likes all those things, he said. "But if you don't have the money, what can you do?"

Perez, through his spokeswoman, Sarah Barr, bit back.

"If Hartford Republicans apply the same effort and thoughtfulness to this campaign as they do to local elections they will be just as spectacularly unsuccessful," Barr said. "That being said, there are a number of communities in Connecticut with lower bond ratings, massive unfunded pension obligations, empty reserves and unwillingness to both cut costs and raise revenue that would probably require state intervention long before the city of Hartford."