Documents show New Britain reimbursed Erin Stewart more than $31K for master's tuition
Documents obtained by NBC Connecticut show that former New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart received more than $31,500 in city reimbursements for graduate school tuition after the city approved an agreement allowing it to cover the cost of her master’s degree.
Stewart suspended her campaign for governor on May 14 of this year, less than an hour after the city released a report detailing her personal spending on a city credit card.
The city reimbursed Stewart a total of $31,561.54 between 2021 and 2022 for master’s coursework at the University of New Haven. The payments included reimbursements of $5,142.50 and $3,712.89 in September 2021, $10,395 in December 2021, $9,163.94 in May 2022, and $3,147.21 in July 2022, according to the documents.
“This does not seem to be just a simple lapse in judgement, but represents a deliberate and potentially criminal effort to circumvent the rules that exist to protect taxpayers and ensure transparency in government,” current mayor of New Britain, Bobby Sanchez, said.
The money initially came from an account paying employees for healthcare costs. Stewart eventually got the city to change the account to also cover education costs, the documents stated.
A Memorandum of Agreement signed on May 26, 2021, showed that the City of New Britain would reimburse Stewart for the cost of the remaining credits needed to complete her master’s degree, provided she earned passing grades in each course and submitted proof of those grades to the city’s human resources director.
The agreement specified that the arrangement would remain in effect only while Stewart was employed by the city.
“Employee and the City agree that this Agreement shall not serve as evidence of a past practice or precedent in the future except as to Employee named herein, nor shall this Agreement create any rights other than those specifically identified herein,” the memorandum stated.
Connecticut State Police and the FBI are continuing to investigate Stewart’s personal spending on a city credit card.
An attorney representing Stewart declined to comment.
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