Lamont signs order clearing way for towns to adopt budgets

HARTFORD, March 22, 2020 – On Saturday, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont signed an executive order that helps Connecticut towns and cities adopt their upcoming municipal budgets. He is suspending the requirement for in-person budget adoption and is extending the deadlines for planning, assessment and taxation.

“Towns have been very nervous about heading into the new fiscal year without a budget,” said Elizabeth Gara, executive director of the Connecticut Council of Small Towns told CTNewsJunkie.com. “Clearly, protecting the health and safety of the public is our towns’ number one concern right now. But towns also need to be positioned to get their communities back on track once the pandemic is over. Having a budget in place will allow towns to do that.”

Gara said attending town meetings at this moment is a huge health risk. “We are confident that towns will be very mindful of the need to ensure that the public has the opportunity to view and comment on the proposed budget, even if they can’t attend the town meeting or vote at the polls,” Gara said. More details

Phone call from Gov. Lamont

Lamont is using some old-fashioned technology to urge state residents to stay home – the telephone.

Using the CTAlerts system for the first time, Lamont’s recorded message encourages people to stay at home. “I’m not ordering you to stay home, I’m strongly urging you to stay home to make sure that you and your neighbors are much less likely to be infected by the highly contagious COVID-19 virus,” Lamont says in the call. Learn more from our friends at CT News Junkie.com.

Donations sought

The state of Connecticut is working with the United Way to take donations of personal protective equipment (PPE) for medical workers across the state. The state is looking for donations of protective clothing, helmets, goggle or other garments or equipment to protect medical personnel from injury or infection. How to help.

Numbers

As of Sunday night at 6 p.m., a total of 327 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed among Connecticut residents in all eight counties. Fifty-one patients are hospitalized and eight have died (five in Fairfield County, 2 in Tolland County and 1 in Hartford County). More information.