NEWINGTON - A Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH) consolidation proposal for health districts throughout the state would include a 1.5 percent required contribution from the budgets of municipalities-but the prospective plan is only a preliminary version, according to a DPH spokesperson.

       DPH Director of Communications Maura Downes said that the Commissioner Raul Pino and the Department had initially examined a Center of Disease Control-recommended 3 percent mandate â€�"in order to ensure that local health is adequately funded”, but ultimately opted to halve it â€�"in order to have a starting point for our proposal”.

       The DPH’s current proposal-which does not include a way for municipalities to opt-out at this time-can still change, Downes said.

       â€�"As has been explained several times by the Commissioner in the meetings he has had with municipal officials, this funding proposal was just that: a proposal,” Downes wrote in an email. â€�"Like all aspects of this legislative concept, the funding mechanism is negotiable and DPH is looking at several alternatives to the 1.5 percent proposal. We fully appreciate the fiscal constraints our municipalities are facing at this time, and appreciate the feedback we’ve received which is helping us to craft an alternative funding mechanism for the proposal.”

       If the 1.5 percent sticks, the DPH hopes to find other revenue streams to offset it, Downes said.

       The Department is currently exploring everything from state and federal grants, to fees for services, she said.

       The DPH has already fielded concerns and criticism for the proposal, from municipal leaders and health district leadership, as well as CRCOG, which sent out a December letter asking Commissioner Pino to pull back on the proposal.

       The CRCOG letter-signed by Chair Chip Beckett and CRCOG Executive Director Lye Wray-warned that municipalities could see increased health costs as services are stretched over a wider population base.

       The letter also said that many health districts operate efficiently, and that a massive consolidation by mandate could serve to â€�"degrade” the quality of services in thriving areas.

       The DPH’s research points to the regionalization of health districts in Ohio, where, according to the American Journal of Public Health, per capita health expenditures were reportedly reduced by 16 percent.

       A consolidated district can come with savings, as well as increased â€�"efficiencies” when it serves a population of 100,000 or more, according to DPH-cited Health Services Research reports from 2009.