Prompted by a new, 14-page report, the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities is embarking on a fall lobbying campaign to remind legislators to work toward holding down property taxes.
Starting next week, the municipal lobbying group will run 30-second radio commercials and newspaper advertisements to remind state legislators and Congressional candidates that local property taxes are too high.
“A property-tax dependent system only works fairly if the property and income wealth of a community can generate enough property tax revenue at a reasonable cost to taxpayers to meet the need for public services, or state aid is sufficient to fill local revenue gaps,” said James Finley, CCM’s CEO. “It is increasingly clear that the overreliance on the property tax is inadequate for funding local government services, particularly education, in Connecticut.”
Finley added, “The overdependence on the property tax is unsustainable, and hometown Connecticut is in desperate need of revenue assistance. Harnessing the revenue-raising capacity of the State and sharing resources with local governments is one way to reduce the overreliance on property taxes in Connecticut.”
Finley told reporters that “our point is to educate candidates.”
CCM was pleased that Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and the Democratic-controlled legislature avoided making any deep cuts in municipal aid. But they sliced the state’s popular property tax credit from a maximum of $500 to a maximum of $300. Malloy had proposed completely eliminating the property tax credit in his budget in February 2011, soon after taking office. But the legislature restored the level to $300 after an outcry from the general public.
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3 Responses to CCM To Launch Radio And Newspaper Ad Campaign On Property Taxes
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Why wouldn’t they simply run the ads in Hartford, New Haven, Waterbury and other towns in which the property tax rates are oppressively high? I don’t think anyone in Darien, Lyme or Fairfield needs to be educated about the importance of keeping property tax rates low. They’re doing it and, surprise, surprise, they’re growing.
“Educating” state candidates about strictly local issues (i.e., property tax rates) doesn’t make much sense.
Simple: Because Hartford, New Haven, and Waterbury have greater needs than suburban and rural towns. But folks in the suburbs utilize non-profit (and tax-exempt) entities in the cities. So we need to share in the cost. Hartford Police protect Hartford Hospital, and people from Glastonbury use the hospital. Why should those in Hartford (who are considerably less well-off than the out-of-town patient) foot the bill themselves?
No one is saying that. This is about high property tax rates. Hartford’s tax rates have chased away its tax base, which (since they are unable to cut spending) caused them to raise their tax rates, which chased away its tax base, which caused them to raise their tax rates, etc.
Hartford has killed itself with its taxation.
As for its spending, half of Hartford’s budget comes from the state. Do you think that other towns’ residents cause the city to spend half of its budget? Of course not.