Most of this non-taxable property like private colleges and hospitals is located in cities like New Haven, Hartford, and Bridgeport.
Senate President Martin Looney wants the state to dedicate $114 million in state funds to increase payments to cities and towns for this non-taxable property.
The proposal has Republican support but that support is contingent on how the state decides to pay for it.
“Raising taxes is a very difficult conversation as you well know and certainly for any municipality the greater the property tax burden, no matter what the reason, makes that community less affordable,” Darien First Selectwoman Jayme Stevenson said.
Looney sees it as a solution to inequality.
“You have a disparity in Connecticut where Hartford has a mill rate of 74 and Greenwich a mill rate of 11 and everything in between that Greenwich raises $30 million on a single mill other communities raise only a modest amount of $100,000 or so,” Looney said..
Those swings in wealth are not necessarily helpful, according to Looney.
”In a state this small to have those kinds of contrasts is a real economic drag and an anchor on our state,” Looney said.
Looney added that “It is not another tax, it is a redistribution of property tax revenue. And many communities will benefit from it and see a significant decrease in their property tax liability.”
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Our NBC Connecticut meteorologists are predicting temperatures in the low 40s and partly cloudy skies. The outdoor ceremony held on the north steps is a chilly concession to the COVID-19 virus, which is expected to force much of the early session into the digital realm and limit the number of bills.
“There’s not going to be a normal opening day address from the governor. I’m not sure if he’s doing it live via Zoom or a prerecorded message of some kind, but it will not be from the chamber,” incoming House Speaker Matt Ritter said.
Lamont spokesman Max Reiss said the governor’s address will be from his office and not from the dais in the House chamber.