Shelton Lawmakers Push Back Against Hartford Power Grab
HARTFORD — State Representatives Ben McGorty (R-122th) and Jason Perillo (R-113th) of Shelton are pushing back against several legislative proposals they describe as a “money and power grab” by Hartford Democrats.
In two separate public hearings on Monday, hundreds of people signed up to testify on several proposals to implement a new statewide property tax and override local zoning control. The Shelton lawmakers were outraged at yet another attempt to impose burdensome regulations and taxes on the residents of their city.
“Democrats in the legislature are hiding behind this new virtual process to introduce more and more disastrous proposals to bankrupt our state. It’s not enough that they continue to call for more taxes on Shelton to claw money back to their own districts. Now they’re actively undermining the local government and working to take control over our zoning. I have and will continue to oppose any moves to take from Shelton to benefit Hartford,” said Rep. McGorty, who serves as Assistant Republican Leader.
“Shelton prides itself on being a welcoming, safe and affordable community where people can raise a family and start a business. We are a town that supports our neighbors and creates opportunity for all residents,” said Rep. Perillo, who serves as Deputy House Republican Leader. “Now, Democratic legislators who represent larger, fiscally-distressed cities are introducing legislation that would undermine the local efforts of Connecticut’s well-managed towns. Let me be clear, these statewide property tax proposals and anti-local zoning bills are nothing more than a money and power grab by urban politicians attempting to backtrack on decades of their poor policy decisions. These taxes would be in addition to our local property taxes and we would have no control over how that money is spent. We need to fight back on these proposals.”
Hartford Democrats are calling for drastic changes to local zoning, including SB-1024, which would overrule local zoning authorities and mandate the construction of multi-family and affordable housing, regardless of existing local regulations. Many local officials testified against the bills, saying they would totally remove public input from the process.
“I am opposed to this bill as well as any other effort by our state legislature to take the control of a municipality’s land use regulations away from its elected or appointed officials. Connecticut communities do not stand to benefit from the elimination of local control and decision-making,” said Virginia Harger, a member of the Shelton Planning and Zoning Commission. “Replacing home rule and local zoning control with a one-size-fits-all mandate from our State government as proposed under the provisions of this bill will surely have negative effects on our communities.”
In addition, separate proposals would create a brand-new, statewide property tax on homes valued at $300,000 and above, as well as all commercial property. Unlike existing property taxes, revenue generated would go directly to the state government, instead of municipal services in Shelton.
While the city’s grand list continues to grow due to increasing investment and smart fiscal policies, a new blanket tax could derail its progress with minimal to no benefit to Shelton’s residents.
A third public hearing is scheduled for Monday, March 2nd on another bill to levy property taxes on towns deemed to have insufficient affordable housing. Reps. McGorty and Perillo encourage Shelton residents to speak out against new taxes by emailing their testimony to pdtestimony@cga.ct.gov.
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