McKinney Rebukes Governor Malloy, State Bond Commission Over Borrowing for Morgan Street Parking Garage

Sen. Minority Leader John McKinney today rebuked the State Bond Commission’s approval of a project which directs more than $30 million in taxpayer funds to buy and renovate a Hartford parking garage which has been appraised at between $7.8 million and $9 million.

On June 21, the State Bond Commission, chaired by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, approved more than $30 million to buy the Morgan Street Parking Garage from the City of Hartford to provide parking for new state-owned office space.

Here’s how the purchase breaks down:

• Purchase Price of the Garage: $23,250,000
• Closing Costs: $221,000
• Lease Payments: $3,200,000
• Renovations/Improvements: $3,500,000

In addition, the state will not even own the land under the garage because the deal involves a highly unusual 99-year lease. To add insult to injury, taxpayers are on the hook for an additional $3.5 million in renovation costs.

“It is hard for me to see this project as anything more than a bailout gift for the Democratic Mayor of Hartford,” said Senator McKinney. “What exactly does the state of Connecticut get out of this deal?

“Taxpayers are being asked to pay more than twice the appraised value of the garage, then spend millions more in renovation costs, and when it’s all said and done, we won’t even own the land beneath the building. This is just the latest example of the type of wasteful spending that is bankrupting our state.”