Broadband grants, TIF changes could help Litchfield expand internet access

A state representative told the town that several provisions in the new state budget and a recently signed law will make municipal broadband projects easier to fund. She described a new tax-increment financing (TIF) option that allows some communities to use TIF dollars outside district limits to leverage matching funds with local providers.

The representative said the legislature set aside "three or four million dollars" in the general fund for community broadband projects and that one town had received roughly "a hundred or two hundred thousand dollars" to complete local installation. She also said a bonding proposal for larger rural projects remains under consideration and that towns may consider whether to authorize bonding in a future session.