Hartford Business Journal

24 Hartford Business Journal • April 27, 2015 www.HartfordBusiness.com OPINION & COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Admissions tax proposal is fair to Hartford T he city of Hartford has made few friends with its decision to build a $56 million minor league ballpark to lure away the New Britain Rock Cats from the Hardware City. So, it shouldn't be a surprise that dozens of people and municipal/state offi- cials submitted testimony to the General Assembly's Finance, Revenue, and Bonding Committee opposing a bill that would divert to Hartford's coffers state admissions tax revenues generated by the Downtown North stadium. The city would use those funds to help pay down the debt incurred for building the sta- dium, which is set to debut next spring. Opposition to the proposal has come far and wide, ranging from Republican legislators to New Britain officials and even Hartford residents. In reality, the proposal isn't terrible policy and should be supported by state lawmakers. While we've been opposed to, or skeptical of, many state subsidies to private enter- prises, this measure doesn't quite fit that bill. The admissions tax revenues — spawned by a 10 percent tax on tickets — will be generated by the stadium itself; the city is simply asking to keep that money instead of sending it to the state. Hartford could receive an estimated $426,000 annually from the admissions tax to offset the cost of constructing the stadium. That will provide an added shield to Hart- ford taxpayers, particularly businesses, who already shoulder the highest tax burden in Connecticut, and will be on the hook for an additional $4.2 million annually pay off the bonds that finance the ballpark. This proposal isn't novel either: the XL Center and Webster Arena in Bridge- port are exempt from the state admis- sions tax. The Ballpark at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport is trying to gain the exemp- tion. Hartford wants to maintain the tax but keep the revenue. To be fair, we understand why there is passionate opposition to the bill. Many people, including New Britain officials, are upset the city of Hartford lured away the Rock Cats, and they don't want to see any state money support the team or stadium. That is sentiment shared by many indi- viduals from across the state who believe that taxpayer dollars shouldn't fund pro- fessional sports stadiums. And, yes it's true, the state faces significant financial head- winds and can use every penny it can find to help fill billion-dollar deficits projected for the next two fiscal years. Those are legitimate concerns and arguments, but this proposal is not a traditional state subsidy. Hartford is simply asking to keep the revenues its own stadium will generate. It's a fair and reasonable request from a city that faces significant economic hardships; more than 50 percent of Hartford's properties, for example, are owned by hospitals, universities, and other nonprofits and therefore exempt from property taxes. No other municipality faces such headwinds. Additionally, the stadium will generate other state revenues such as income, sales, and hotel taxes that will offset some of the lost admissions tax revenues. There will never be universal support for Hartford's minor league stadium, but the real- ity now is that it's being built. While we would be hesitant to support, or even lobby against, direct state investment in the ballpark if it fails to deliver on its financial promises, we don't view a diversion of admissions tax revenues to the Capital City as a taxpayer bailout. n OTHER VOICES Hartford's private, public sectors share talent retention challenge By Devi Mohanty F inding top talent is a challenge. Retain- ing top talent is the challenge that comes after that. It is one of the toughest fac- ing the public and private sectors right now, extending from government to nonprofits, and equally applicable to any Fortune 500 company. But, perhaps, nowhere is it more important than in our public schools, where having a strong leader — and keeping them for the long term — can be the difference between a chroni- cally low-performing school turning itself around or spinning its wheels, with a genera- tion of children hanging in the balance. Right here in Hartford, 16 percent of school principals leave each year, better than the national aver- age, but still too high given what's at stake. All forward-looking leaders are worried about how to ensure more of the top-flight tal- ent sticks around. Attrition costs are a double whammy to an organization — they rob the organization of accrued institutional knowledge and onboarding new folks from the outside almost always takes more time than we would like and need. If you think that learning a new busi- ness environment is difficult (which it is, every day), then think about how hard it is to learn a new school commu - nity as a principal facing special needs across many language groups and community hardships. In education, it all starts with the great school principal, who is able to put forth the vision and at the same time define and inspire work on the details: managing the budget, creating systems to improve learning, pro- moting the school to families who have a choice, supporting overburdened staff, and building strategic partnerships, all while han- dling crises on a weekly or daily basis. Make no mistake, the school-leader role that these principals sign up for in Hartford is like those business opportunities that have the cards stacked against them, with perhaps months of declining market share, a recent change in regulation, or maybe just a cus- tomer base that's grown tired of the product. The stakes in these situations are high and the probability of success is low. And those taking these jobs know it when they come in. The specific role of a school leader is multi-faceted, starting with being a great educator, but then he or she also has to be a: • Marketer: market the services of the school to parents, the community as well as new teachers; • Trainer: develop teachers and adminis- trative staff to be the next generation of leaders; • Trustworthy Partner: manage the tenuous relationship between teachers, politicians, and parents while keeping the interests of the students paramount. Clearly, there are similarities in what leaders face and are expected to do that cut across both sectors. In the private sector, the leaders in charge of businesses are meant to thrive and grow, in relation to the growth of their business. Often those with outstanding skills earn an oppor- tunity to do even more in the company they are in. Yet leaders who have accomplished something relatively quickly — especially in challenging circumstances — become extremely marketable, and keeping them becomes a challenge. That is the challenge for a school district like Hartford. Achieve Hartford! recently released a pub- lication looking at the challenges facing the Hartford school district, with specific sugges- tions for how to retain top school leaders. I sub- mit that the best methods for retaining strong leaders in schools may also apply to the private sector. Achieve Hartford! recommends: 1. Recognizing gap areas and delivering specific training and development oppor- tunities to help build skills, while at the same time recogniz- ing that leaders can't be expected to be experts in everything; 2. Allocating resources in a way that correlates to the level of chal- lenge these leaders face; 3. Providing strong incentives for leaders to stay, so that it is clear how much achieve- ment within such challenging circumstances means to the entire organization; 4. Ensuring these leaders know how much they are valued, by arranging face time with the CEO and by providing opportunities for them to regularly submit feedback on the job that the organization is doing to support them. These methods enable strong leaders to succeed by building their skills, aligning pro- grams and resources to what is important to the organization, and by giving leaders a voice in important decisions. But until both the public and private sectors get better at implementing these methods, we will contin- ue to face the retention battle. In the case of educating Hartford children, that is a battle we simply must win. n Devi Mohanty is the vice president of strat- egy and business development at The Hart- ford Financial Services Group and a mem- ber of Achieve Hartford!'s board of directors. HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM POLL Will you stay in CT post-retirement? ● Yes ● No ● Maybe To vote, go online to HartfordBusiness.com. Last week's poll results: At what age do you plan to retire? 4.5% 50-59 43.9% 60-69 30.3% 70+ 21.2% Never Devi Mohanty ▶ ▶ All forward-looking leaders are worried about how to ensure more of the top-flight talent sticks around. Send Us Your Letters The Hartford Business Journal welcomes letters to the editor and guest commentaries for our opinion pages. Electronic submissions are preferred and welcome at: editor@HartfordBusiness.com. Or you may fax submissions to Editor, Hartford Business Journal, at (860) 570-2493. ▶ ▶ While we've been opposed to, or skeptical of, many state subsidies to private enterprises, this measure doesn't quite fit that bill.

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