NEWINGTON - Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin was met with a mix of sympathy, skepticism, and-most of all-questions from Newington residents that packed the Town Hall auditorium Monday night to hear him discuss both the roots of the capitol’s current fiscal crisis, as well as city and state-level solutions.

       Bronin has been visiting fellow Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) member towns, including neighboring Wethersfield and nearby Rocky Hill in order to engage residents in a dialogue regarding the city’s struggles-which he believes could have lasting economic ramifications for the region, and particularly nearby suburbs where members of the Hartford workforce live.

       The city currently faces a $50 million deficit, with a projected $70 million shortfall projected for the year after-a predicament that Bronin says developed through a combination of past municipal mismanagement in the form of inflated pension contracts, over borrowing, and costly projects, as well as structural inadequacies in the state’s Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) program for tax exempt property.

       Bronin’s addresses have focused on both-he says that although the city has, and needs continue to make â€�"tough decisions” when it comes to budgeting, only action at the state level will provide a long term fix.

       In other municipalities, Bronin openly requested that residents ask their state delegation to push for changes to the PILOT funding formula. He estimates that if state property received reimbursement equal to that of colleges and hospitals, the city could make up around $70 million on that alone.

       More than half of Hartford’s property is tax exempt.

       But Senator Paul Doyle and State Representative Tony Guerrera-who have attended a number of Bronin’s events-have been less than optimistic about the chances of any near-term changes to PILOT funding. Their first priorities will be protecting municipal aid-a task that promises to be a challenge with the state facing its own deficits, they said.

       â€�"We are prepared to try and help Hartford, but we’re not gonna write a $50 million check-we just simply don’t have the money,” Doyle said at a recent Town Council meeting in Newington.

       In that same discussion, Guerrera said that if the state could find more funding, that the city should show that it has â€�"a plan” for how to implement it to close its deficits.

       â€�"It would hurt towns all around Hartford if they declared bankruptcy. But there’s got to be a plan in place before we commit to raising that kind of money, which, let’s be honest, is gonna come from all of us,” Guerrera said. â€�"We’re not magicians up there. If we’re gonna help Hartford, tell us ways we can help you out.”

       During an open discussion segment that followed-and made up most of the whole meeting-some residents had similar questions, asking what they could do to help, while expressing that the town faces its own fiscal challenges in tight budget year that all but promises cuts to municipal aid.

       â€�"I’m not asking for Newington to write a check. I’m not asking for anything other than just to take the time to have a conversation about the challenges facing Hartford and why I think it’s a shared challenge,” Bronin said. â€�"I’m asking people to, if nothing else, raise their voices and say, whatever the reason is, the health of the city matters to us.”

       Others called into question the city’s past fiscal decisions-a claim Bronin did not dispute-and called on leadership to accept what they feel is impending bankruptcy

       â€�"If you were a business, you’d be in bankruptcy court,” said Robert Young, a Wethersfield resident who attended the meeting.

       While the city could declare bankruptcy-to the tune of reopened union contracts and costly, drag-out lawsuits with creditors for lowered debt-the impact and potential exodus of job-producing businesses would be felt throughout the region while providing only a potentially minimum benefit in the way of relief, Bronin said.

       â€�"We’re not a business. You don’t get to walk away from your responsibilities,” he said. â€�"You can’t say you’re not gonna have a fire department, that you’re not gonna clean the streets, you still have to be a city.”

       As for collective bargaining, those agreements are already being renegotiated, with the city’s fire fighter’s union opting into a more modest deal-a victory Bronin hopes will precede more like it.

       As for the issue of the MDC and the potential for other member towns to pick up extra costs in ad valorem sewer taxes in the event that Hartford misses its last two 2017 Fiscal Year quarterly payments, Bronin said that it’s a scenario he hopes to avoid by escaping the current fiscal crisis.

       The discussion also turned to shared services and regional cost saving measures. While it may take some time for the state to implement more sweeping policies in that respect, more can be done to make it easier for towns that choose to consolidate certain functions to do so, Bronin said.

       The state could also look to diversify funding streams to towns, possibly by directing more to municipalities in sales tax revenue, he said.

       â€�"The biggest obstacle we have is we have less taxable property than a lot of small suburbs,” Bronin said. â€�"That’s a system that’s built to fail.”