The Community Investment Board 2030 launched a process that potentially could channel $875 million in state financing over the next five years — and as much as $1.5 billion over the next decade — into nearly three dozen distressed municipalities. Cities and towns, community development corporations and other nonprofit entities are being asked to take a holistic approach, the speaker said. Though they could seek funding for one capital project, such as downtown parking and sidewalk repairs, long-term plans that might include several elements — job creation, expansion of affordable housing or filling a gap in vital support services — will have a big advantage. The group cannot disburse dollars unilaterally to cities and towns. Most state borrowing must be considered by the State Bond Commission — a 10-member panel chaired by the governor. But Lamont has only two months to decide whether to forward projects endorsed by the investment board to the bond commission. Lamont and lawmakers adopted Ritter’s compromise, which included no major tax hikes. Instead it authorized $175 million in annual state financing for each of the next five years for investments in the 34 communities classified as “distressed” — due to high poverty levels — by the state Office of Policy and Management.
CT investment panel challenges poor cities seeking economic aid to think big