by Zachary Janowski | Oct 10, 2013 | Features, General, Municipal, State Budget, Taxes & Spending
State officials paid $23.3 million for a Hartford parking garage despite an appraisal suggesting the garage was worth less than one-tenth that amount. Prior to purchasing the Morgan Street Garage from the Hartford Parking Authority, the state hired two firms to...
by Zachary Janowski | Oct 9, 2013 | Economy, Features, General, State Budget, Taxes & Spending
The Tax Foundation again ranked Connecticut’s business tax climate as among the worst in the nation, including the second-worst rating on property taxes. Connecticut rose one slot from 43 to 42 in the 2014 ranking released Wednesday. Two years ago the state...
by Zachary Janowski | Sep 6, 2013 | Education, Features, General, Taxes & Spending
Connecticut’s Department of Education circumvented state contracting laws by giving money to a nonprofit with a specific purpose: to buy training and technology related to the state’s new teacher evaluation process. The Connecticut Association of Schools, a nonprofit...
by Zachary Janowski | Sep 5, 2013 | Features, General, Taxes & Spending
A new report from State Budget Solutions ranks Connecticut second-worst for pension funding, with only enough set aside to pay for 25 percent of what it owes employees and retirees. Only Illinois fares worse, with 24 percent funding, according to the nonprofit....
by Zachary Janowski | Sep 4, 2013 | Education, Features, General, Taxes & Spending
The University of Connecticut awarded a $6 million contract last year without competitive bidding to speed up repair work for fear of bricks falling from the Gant Building on the Storrs campus, but the company doing the project is no longer authorized to do state...
by Zachary Janowski | Aug 27, 2013 | Economy, Features, General, Health Care, State Budget, Taxes & Spending
Connecticut has distributed nearly $80 million in stem cell research grants but only two private companies received funding in the program’s seven years, with most of the money going to the University of Connecticut Health Center and Yale University. In 2011...
