Hartford Business Journal

6 Hartford Business Journal • April 25, 2016 www.HartfordBusiness.com TOP STORY Bronin proposes layoffs, concessions, cuts amid downgrade As promised, Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin's first ever budget contains steep cuts, including lay- offs, but no property tax increases. Facing a $48.5 million budget def- icit in the fiscal year that starts July 1, Bronin last week proposed cut- ting 100 city positions (including 40 layoffs), squeezing concessions from labor unions and virtually eliminating all cultural and arts grants. He said he remained unwilling to raise the city's 74.29 mill rate, which is by far the highest in the state. Combined with efforts to reduce police overtime pay, across-the- board cuts in city departments and other measures, the job cuts would amount to total savings of $15 mil- lion. Bronin has not proposed laying off police officers or firefighters. The mayor has also penciled in $15.5 million in labor concessions, which could include changes to benefit and pension design, wage freezes, furloughs and other measures. Bronin's budget also includes $1 million in concessions from non-union workers. The entire budget, including city and school operations, is $557 million. He said he would flat fund the city's school system, and that some schools may be consolidated. The mayor has also slashed the city's capital projects budget from $110 million to $48 million. As he has done in recent weeks, Bronin stressed that the city was on an unsustainable track that would require state intervention, perhaps as early as fiscal year 2018, when the city will have even fewer op- tions to close an even larger pro- jected gap. Hartford's government is already running lean, he said, with its em- ployee counts down nearly one-third since 2000, to 1,337 employees. Bronin said regionalization mea- sures like cost sharing among sur- rounding communities, full PILOT pay- ments by the state and local-option taxes could help Hartford avoid insol- vency in future years. But the city will need the legislature's help, he said. Meantime, days after Bronin released his budget Moody's Inves- tors Service downgraded the rating on the city's $550 million in outstanding debt by one notch, from "A3" to "Baa1." The downgrade reflects what Moody's said is the city's weak financial posi- tion and use of one-time revenues to balance its operating budget. The com- pany also cited Hartford's limited financial flexibility due to rising fixed costs related to debt, pensions and retiree health benefits. HEALTH CARE CT has highest nursing home prices A survey of long-term care costs finds Connecticut has the highest prices on average for a semi-private room in a skilled nursing home. According to the Lincoln Financial survey, the annual average cost for a skilled nursing home, semi-private room is $151,110. Massachusetts was sec- ond at $138,355, followed by New York in third at $135,780. The national average for a semi-private room is nearly $87,000 annually while a private room costs approximately $99,600 - a 2 percent increase over 2014 for each respective setting. BIOSCIENCE CT's FluBlok maker eyes Zika vaccine Meriden flu-vaccine maker Protein Sciences Corp. says it has teamed with a pair of Argentinian organizations and all three have enrolled in a consortium devising a vaccine against the Zika virus. Protein Sciences, which makes the FluBlok anti-flu serum, and Sinergium Biotech, of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Mundo Sano, a private foundation with activities in Argentina, Spain and Africa, announced their partnership last week. Under the pact's terms, Sinergium will pay an unspecified upfront fee to fund the development and manufacture of the Zika vaccine being produced in Mer- iden using Protein Sciences' proprietary technology, the partners said. REAL ESTATE Area housing sales show increase in March Hartford area home sales continued to swell in March, with both single-family and condominium closings strong last month, Realtors say. Median sale prices were mixed. Closed sales of single-family homes rose 24 percent last month to 809 units vs 654 closed sales in March 2015, the Greater Hartford Association of Realtors said. Condo sales climbed 10.4 percent to 181 units vs. 164 units sold a year earlier. Median price for an area house sold in March fell to 3.4 percent to $200,000 from $207,100 the same month last year. But median condo sale prices rose 3.2 percent last month to $199,350 vs. $193,250 a year ago. GOVERNMENT CT deficit creeps upward on corporation tax shortfall The state's projected deficit for the current fiscal year increased 8 percent over the past month, as Office of Policy and Management forecasts for corporation tax revenue missed the mark in March and the first half of April. OPM said last week that it's now projecting a $141.4 million deficit for the year ending June 30. That's up from $130.8 million in March, which was up sharply from February's $20 million estimate thanks to lower than expected collections of personal income taxes. After lackluster collections over the past six weeks, OPM has lowered its corporation tax revenue forecast for the current year by $85 million. ADVERTISING, MEDIA & MARKETING Popular WNPR host leaving morning show John Dankosky, the host of WNPR's popular morning show "Where We Live", has been promoted to a new role overseeing eight public radio news bureaus throughout New England. In his new role, Dankosky will lead the New England News Collaborative (NENC) as its executive editor. NENC is a regional news collaborative that includes eight pub- lic media stations in New England, including WNPR. Under his direction, the partnership will produce re- porting projects for WNPR and its partner stations, and for national programs including "Morning Edition," "All Things Considered," and "Here & Now." Previously, Dankosky served as vice president of news at CPBN/WNPR. Replacing Dankosky as host of "Where We Live" will be Lucy Nalpathanchil, a reporter and host for mid-day programming on WNPR including "Here and Now." TELECOMMUNICATIONS Comcast will replace cable box with an app Comcast will soon let its customers bypass the cable box and get Xfinity service directly on their television sets or streaming media gadgets. A new Comcast app will transform new Samsung smart TVs and Roku devices into quasi cable boxes. The app, which will be available later this year, will serve up live TV and on-demand video, just like Comcast's X1 cable boxes do. Customers can also use the app to record shows on their virtual DVRs. Existing Comcast customers who use the new app can return their boxes, saving the $10-a-month equipment fee they would otherwise have to pay to rent their set-top box. EDUCATION Fairfield top undergrad business school in CT Fairfield University has been ranked the best undergraduate business school in the state. Bloomberg did a study of the best U.S. undergraduate business schools, ranking Fairfield No. 1 in Connecticut with an overall national ranking of 43rd. The school jumped 15 spots from last year's rankings. The other Connecticut business schools on the list were: University of Connecticut, 72; Quinnipiac University, 91; Scared Heart University, 92; University of Hartford, 101. Bloomberg based its rankings on employer and student surveys, starting salaries and internship opportunities. Hartford's Fiscal Outlook S O U R C E : C I T Y O F H A R T F O R D $480,000,000 $500,000,000 $520,000,000 $540,000,000 $560,000,000 $580,000,000 $600,000,000 $620,000,000 $640,000,000 $660,000,000 FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020 FY 2021 FY 2022 Revenues Expenditures BY THE NUMBERS 7,472 The number of distracted driving crashes in Connecticut in 2015, according to a new report from UConn, which accounted for 7 percent of all crashes. 8.5% The percentage decline in the number of Connecticut IT jobs posted online during the month of March. 89 The number of UConn Health Center employees who were laid off last week, as part of a second wave of job cuts spurred by Connecticut's budget crisis. $200,000 The average price to buy a home in Greater Hartford in March, down 3.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the Greater Hartford Association of Realtors. TOP 5 MOST READ on HartfordBusiness.com ■ Bronin proposes layoffs, concessions, cuts ■ Vestis enters into Chapter 11 bankruptcy ■ Popular WNPR host leaving morning show ■ Top small cities in CT for doing business ■ UnitedHealthcare leaving CT's insurance exchange STAY CONNECTED For breaking and daily Greater Hartford business news go to www.HartfordBusiness.com. HBJ on Twitter: @HartfordBiz HBJ on Facebook: www.facebook.com/HartfordBiz HBJ on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/ the-Hartford-Business-Journal Daily e-newsletters: HBJ Today, CT Morning Blend www.HartfordBusiness.com/subscribe Weekly e-newsletters: CT Green Guide Weekly, CT Health Care Weekly www.HartfordBusiness.com/subscribe WEEK IN REVIEW John Dankosky

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