WETHERSFIELD - Proposed cuts to municipal aid includes $650,000 from Education Cost Sharing, (ESC) funds for Wethersfield, the town learned earlier this week.

       Towns around the state got word of the proposed reductions on Wednesday afternoon. The state just closed a $220 million budget shortfall for the fourth quarter of this Fiscal Year, but still has to contend with an impending $900 million in the next session.

       â€�"We're in a new economic reality,” said GianCarl Casa, spokesman for the Connecticut Office of Policy Management, (OPM). â€�"With fewer resources, it requires difficult choices. We have been extraordinary champions for our schools-ECS funding is still up over $385 million since 2011 as graduation rates have reached new highs.”

       Statewide high school graduation rates went from 84 percent in 2011-2012 to 87 percent in 2013-2014, according to CTData.org.

       In Wethersfield, officials are working to cut back spending as well. Members of the Town Council and Board of Education are expecting to come in leaner with the school budget-right now a 1.9 percent increase-but a loss in ECS money could shift things the other way, said Mayor Paul Montinieri.

       â€�"It’s very aggressive in terms of impact,” Montinieri said. â€�"It’s a percentage beyond what we’re talking about. We’re not going to let them take a double hit. If they lose half a million dollars, we’d have to put that back somehow.”

       Of course it’s only an early proposal, with a lot of changes likely to take place before any of what’s being discussed becomes a reality, said Russ Morin, State Representative for Wethersfield.

       â€�"This is my tenth year doing this, and I’ve yet to vote in favor of a budget as submitted,” Morin said. â€�"The budget’s going to look very different in the end. There’s not a legislator out there that’s going to support it as written.”

       Morin referred to the proposal as â€�"a non-starter for me”.

       â€�"It’s not the right thing for the towns,” he said.

       Montinieri said that while he supports the Governor’s push to reduce taxes, looking to consolidate costs through regionalization would be a smarter approach.

       â€�"We said we wanted to be partners with the state in reducing taxes, but to simply cut education is a huge mistake,” Montinieri said. â€�"If you cut municipal aid, what do you think is going to happen? [Local] taxes will go up.”

       Montinieri also took issue with what he referred to as disparities in the ECS reductions from town to town. While protecting funds for struggling urban school districts should be a priority, the cuts should be more even when it comes to municipalities that are similar in scope and demographics, he said.

       Casa said that the state prioritized districts that have performed lower and demonstrated a greater need.

       â€�"We also know that we need to provide support to schools and districts that need it most,” Casa said. â€�"Taking the same percentage of cuts in towns with wildly varying mill rates and tax bases just doesn't make sense. We believe we should protect the schools that rely on us most.”