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CPEC’s Top Ten List
Budget watchdog group urges fiscal fitness for state
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Business New Haven
1/26/1998
By: BNH
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Forget for a minute that most people have
probably already broken their own. The Connecticut Policy & Economic Council (CPEC), the Hartford-based non-profit, non-partisan watchdog group, has offered a set of New Year's resolutions for Connecticut to help place the state's economy on firmer footing.
In inverse order, a la David Letterman, they include:
10. Independently analyze proposed capital investment projects to assess their economic and fiscal impact. Government officials, says CPEC, these days jump from one huge project to another in search of capital spending to boost the economy. But in most cases, analysis of the payback is done mainly by project promoters. A reliable and independent analyst could accurately measure increases in tax revenues and jobs from major projects.
19. Exempt business equipment from the
local property tax. Many states do not tax business equipment including stationery, office machines and furniture. To be competitive, says CPEC, neither should we.
18. Explore new transportation technology
to maximize underused rail and water transit capacity. State and regional firms are world leaders in new transportation technologies, involved in projects across the nation and around the globe - but not in Connecticut.
17. Increase the so-called rainy day fund. In good economic times such as these, the state needs to set aside surplus revenues as a hedge against tax hikes when the economy slows. Many states have reserve funds totaling a much higher percentage of their expenditures.
16. Stop playing numbers games with the state budget. Officials say state spending is growing more slowly inflation - not so, CPEC says. The state must measure its progress against actual expenditures at year's end - a standard it already imposes on cities and towns.
5. Develop a 20-year plan for public higher education based on objective goals and key competitors. UConn 2000 and other capital programs for state campuses focus on building buildings. We need instead a “game plan” based on measurable standards of excellence, says CPEC.
4. Privatize tasks now performed by public agencies. Not all of them, of course - just those which can better be performed by contracting out to businesses and non-profits.
3. Measure the performance of all government functions. Just like they do in the business world. How else can taxpayers know if state and local expenditures deliver a return on investment?
2. Insist on continual improvement in public school mastery test scores. Year-to-year scores must define an unbroken upward climb - and school administrators must be held accountable when the climb is interrupted.
And, finally:
1. Improve education and training opportunities for employed adults. The state spends millions to train unemployed workers and welfare recipients. Why not make eligible for similar training the vast majority of residents who are employed - and who will need to continuously upgrade their job skills in order to remain so?
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