Saturday, September 29, 2012

Windham Moves Up in State Distressed Ranking


Should  Abilities of Town Politicians be added to State Criteria?



Last week 25 towns in Connecticut,  including Windham, received a special designation from The Conn Dept of Economic and Community Development.  Along with the designation these towns  were awarded the privilege to apply for various grants through The Ct. Enterprise Zone Program.  To qualify Windham  joined a group of the most distressed municipalities in Connecticut. No newcomer to this group Windham has qualified for the designation since 1999. Over  13 years Windham's ranking has hovered  in the middle of the pack though its score has dropped from thirteen to eight to seven  the past three years.  (Low rankings signify more distress)  Windham's raw score (Average 1350) has remained relatively constant while competing town's scores fluctuate up and down from year to year.

The DECD  website offers little information on how they reached these rankings, criteria used and what grants and how they could be used in helping Windham and other distressed communities.  By hook, crook, begging and borrowing I have filled most of the state voids so that we have a more clear understanding of this designation.

Below, is a list including Norwich (which did not qualify as a distressed town in 2012), Groton (which was added by the DECD's list this year) and Windham  (in red).  The body of the report is from The New London Day. Windham's statistics are taken from: Ct Economic Resource Ctr.,Ct Fiscal Indicators and U.S Census



What's Considered 'Distressed'

The state Department of Economic and Community Development designated 25 communities as "distressed" this year based on nine criteria. The second number represents the town’s ranking among the state’s 169 cities and towns.


Per capita income 2010
Groton: 
$31,110, 133
Norwich: $26,702, 150
Windham: $18,441

Percentage of poverty in the population
Groton: 
7.2 percent, 130
Norwich: 14.4 percent, 158
Windham: 22.8 percent

Unemployment rate 2011 (counts twice as much in total ranking system):
Groton: 
9.3 percent, 140
Norwich: 9.6 percent, 146
Windham: 11.4 percent

Population change 2000 to 2010:
Groton: 
0.5 percent increase. 151
Norwich: 12.1 percent increase, 22
Windham: 10.5 percent

Change in employment between 2001 and 2011:
Groton: 
0.9 percent net loss. 142
Norwich: 12.9 percent (gain), 10
Windham: 9.7 percent  (gain)

Change in per capita income, 2000-2010
Groton: 
29.7 percent increase, 80
Norwich: 28.7 percent increase, 89
Windham: 10.5 percent

Percentage of housing stock built before 1939
Groton: 
17.8 percent, 24
Norwich: 42.5 percent, 54
Windham: 46.3 percent

Population of adults 25 and older with a high school diploma or higher
Groton: 
89.8 percent, 122
Norwich: 84.4, 154
Windham: 75 percent

Adjusted equalized net grand list per capita
Groton:
 $41,777, 107
Norwich: $23,466,156
Windham: $56,031 

Links used to determine Windham's designation as a distressed community

Links to The New London Day
History of Connecticut  Distressed Municipalities : 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 1999-2012 

Distressed communitys receive grants (if applied for)through DECD Enterprise ZoneOPM on Distressed MunicipilitiesDept. Economic and Community Development








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