By Tom Condon, CT Mirror
Connecticut’s heavy reliance on local property taxes is a millstone around the state’s neck, critics have long asserted. They say high property taxes are a drag on business, promote sprawl and bad land use and penalize land-poor municipalities.
A number of people believe this burden can be significantly reduced by sharing municipal services on a regional basis. Three measures are afoot that could encourage more regional services.
One is a bill before the General Assembly that would revive a dormant grant program to provide funds for regional services provided either by the state’s nine councils of governments (COGs) or six regional education service centers (RESCs). It’s one of two proposed bills aimed at promoting shared services.
Three measures seek to promote regional sharing, cost savings ctmirror.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from ctmirror.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Part of a new infrastructure plan calls for upgrading service between Riverhead and Ronkonkoma by adding an electrified track. (Joe Werkmesiter photo)
An ambitious proposal to bring “world-class” high-speed rail to the Northeast, including a 16-mile rail tunnel that would connect Long Island and Connecticut, could provide a critical boost to the East End with an upgraded electrified rail connecting Riverhead to Long Island Rail Road’s Ronkonkoma hub.
A panel of officials from Suffolk County, Connecticut and Boston discussed the North Atlantic Rail Initiative during a webinar last week, where they pitched the $105 billion, three-phase project as “transformative” for the future of the region.
N Y pot legalization could create $3 5 billion impact and 60,000 jobs msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.