By Kevin McNabola
Orange Board of Finance
Kevin McNabola
Having spent the last 34 years within both corporate and public finance there, I can attest that there are two key drivers for success for any CEO – of a business or a government.
The first is realizing competitive advantage. The second is multi-year financial planning.
Economic uncertainty and federal budget cuts are creating a gathering storm for both corporate CEOs, state and local governments. Leaders need to understand the value of multi-year financial planning, not only as a budgeting tool. It leads to good government, but also good politics. Elected leaders need to address the growing demands for more funding, whether it be within education or public safety.
Why is long-range planning so critical now in Connecticut? The reason is affordable housing. For the past three decades, Connecticut and the broader Northeast have had a structural deficit between housing supply, housing demand and economic realities. All Northeast states have had to endure restrictive zoning, insufficient construction, rising construction costs and stagnant wages.
These factors have created a severe shortage of affordable homes, pushing residents into cost burdens, displacement and long commutes.
Connecticut for many years has had the most exclusionary zoning laws in the country, with 90 percent of the state zoned for single family homes. Multi-family and affordable housing therefore become extremely difficult to build. Connecticut has built far fewer homes than the US average since the 1990s. The limited supply drives up rents and home prices, pushing lower and middle class residents out of the market.
Connecticut’s legislature recently passed a housing bill that replaces the old requirement for each town to create its own affordable housing plan and includes new language which gives power to the regional councils of government. The new housing bill requires Orange to join the regional plan in the 15-member COG or create its own municipal housing growth plan that meets strict state standards with a deadline of June 1, 2028.
As a result, Orange will no longer plan for housing in isolation on its own. Regional housing goals will influence how much housing Orange is expected to support, and the town will need to participate actively or risk losing certain protections.
Why does this matter? Existing law already allows developers to bypass local zoning if a town has too little affordable housing. A moratorium protects towns from these applications. Losing eligibility means Orange would have less control over development, and instead the regional COG would decide where housing growth should occur.
This means Orange will no longer plan for housing in isolation. Regional expectations will shape whether Orange should allow more multifamily housing; whether commercial corridors (e.g., Route 1) should support mixed‑use development; whether Orange should expand accessory dwelling units or smaller‑lot housing; and state funding for infrastructure including sewer and water infrastructure will depend on compliance.
Orange will still control its zoning, but the state will evaluate whether the town is contributing to regional housing goals. The town will not be forced to build specific numbers of units, but it will face strong incentives to support more diverse housing options.
Orange needs to plan now for what the development landscape could look like in just a few years. Orange is known as a small, historic and community‑oriented farm town with rural charm, strong schools and deep agricultural roots. It currently has a nice mix of open space and farmland with a solid tax base and easy access to New Haven and Milford.
The expansion of townhouses and multifamily developments would most certainly put a significant financial burden on education, contributing to a growing student enrollment which would require more teachers and other staff. School renovations or new construction of elementary schools would require spending tens of millions of dollars. The existing buildings were built in the 1960s.
Additional multifamily housing could also require increased funding for public safety, potentially requiring a new paid fire department that would cost the town an additional $5 million to fund salaries, employee benefits, pension and retiree expenses, apparatus and equipment and firehouse operations to match the demand based on the size Orange.
Sewer and water expansion would lead to new water treatment facilities and require additional capital funding, leading to increased debt service funding. The state would provide some funding for public utility expansion.
Allowing more diverse housing options means total taxable property values could grow faster than under a the current large-lot model. Over time this could broaden the tax base and reduce pressure on the mill rate. However, gradual growth in the grand list could be offset by parallel increases in service and infrastructure demands.
Orange could have a more robust tax base and better alignment of growth. In the final analysis, though, we also need to consider how we maintain our great school system and preserve the rural character of our town, which is the reason why many who currently live here came to Orange in the first place.
Kevin McNabola is the chief financial officer for the city of Meriden and a member of the Orange Board of Finance.