Middlebury Selectmen approve letter asking state to restore Mashantucket Pequot Mohegan grants to towns

First Selectwoman Jennifer A. Mahr briefed the board on the town’s lost allocation from the Mashantucket Pequot Mohegan Fund. She said the grant historically provided Middlebury about $15,721 annually (2018) and that Middlebury was among 44 municipalities whose distributions were set to zero beginning in FY 2019 after a legislative redistribution. Mahr proposed a resolution to ask state elected officials to restore Middlebury and the other affected towns to their 2018 funding levels under Conn. Gen. Stat. §3‑55(i) and to develop a plan to restore the funds as discussed in SB 858 (Appropriations Committee-approved language in 2025). The board voted unanimously to send the letter signed by Mahr.

Mahr said restoring the grants is one of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities’ 2026 priorities; she noted a 2023 legislative proposal (SB 1213) that would have restored grants was vetoed by the governor and that other legislative maneuvers in 2023–25 shifted funding for some municipalities while leaving 44 towns with zero. She said the intent of the letter is to ask state leaders to pursue restoration in the upcoming session and that the town would ask for a plan that would not necessarily raise state taxes if implemented properly.

Selectmen did not set further legislative language or appropriation specifics at the meeting; the motion authorized sending the draft resolution and supporting materials to state lawmakers and the governor with the First Selectwoman’s signature.