Each November, in accordance with state statute, the Connecticut General Assembly's Office of Fiscal Analysis produces a Fiscal Accountability Report. According to statute, the report must explain: (1) the level of spending changes from current year spending allowed by consensus revenue estimates, (2) any changes to current year spending necessary because of “fixed cost drivers,” and (3) the total change to current year spending required to accommodate fixed cost drivers without exceeding current revenue estimates.
In response to a request from Governor Dannel P. Malloy on August 2, 2017, this report from the Office of Policy and Management provides a look at state aid to municipalities, including expenditures from grants and funding for capital projects. The report notes that "municipal aid is the largest category of state spending within the entire General Fund, totaling nearly $5.1 billion" in fiscal year 2017. The report also stresses that "municipal aid has continued to expand at the same time the state has cut billions of dollars in expenditures across state agencies." Additionally, according to the report, "over the last five fiscal years the state’s support to towns and cities has grown by nearly $1 billion, an increase of more than 21 percent. This has taken place while the state’s population has remained largely flat and student enrollment in public schools is down."
This research report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston's New England Public Policy Center measures nonschool fiscal disparities in Connecticut and aims to identify the factors that are driving said fiscal disparities. The report also examines the extent to which existing nonschool municipal grant programs address the existing disparities.