Most small towns have had their state funding drop or remain flat over past decade; ‘we’re being killed by a thousand cuts’.

Before last week Connecticut was one of just a few states in the U.S. without a package of spending and taxes for the current fiscal year. It is home to one of the wealthiest populations in the U.S. but has been struggling with a way to afford mounting debt and pension obligations. The new budget agreement, which cleared enough votes in the state House and Senate to survive a veto from Gov. Dan Malloy, provided the state’s capital of Hartford with $40 million designed to help that city avoid bankruptcy. But it left other cities with at least $30 million less than the previous budget, according to a partial tally of cuts by the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities.

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