MAJOR PUBLIC HEARING on Two STATEWIDE PROPERTY TAX Proposals
There will be another major public hearing on Monday, March 15 at 9:00 a.m. on two bills that are proposing STATEWIDE PROPERTY TAXES! Both proposals have been introduced by Senate Democratic leadership.
SUMMARY OF PROPOSED BILLS
S.B 171 – An Act Establishing a State-wide Tax on Real Property
Summary: This bill would create a one-mill state-wide property tax on all residential and commercial property. The language does exempt the first $300,000 from taxation, meaning only the value above this amount would be taxed. However, the exemption applies to residential property only, meaning any commercial property, regardless of value, would be taxable (i.e. a commercial building valued at $150,000 would be fully taxed under this new law).
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S.B. 172 – An Act Establishing a State-wide Assessment to Encourage Affordable Housing in the State
Summary: This bill would created a tiered tax on residential and commercial property based on a town’s level of affordable housing. The schedule would be as follows:
If a town provides…
- at least 10% affordable housing: no tax would apply
- between 8% and <10% affordable housing: 4/10ths of one mill rate applies
- between 6% and <8% affordable housing: 8/10ths of one mill rate applies
- between 4% and <6% affordable housing: 1 and 2/10ths mill rate applies
- between 2% and <4% affordable housing: 1 and 6/10ths mill rate applies
- between 0% and <2% affordable housing: 2 mills rate applies
Note: Similar to SB 171, the first $300,000 of the property’s value would be exempt from this tax, but the exemption only applies to residential property. Commercial property will be assessed for its full value.
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Similar to the zoning bills on Monday’s Planning and Development public hearing agenda, these bills aim to address the issue of affordable housing. Creating more affordable housing should be a priority for all 169 municipalities across Connecticut, but these proposals seem to create more problems than they solve.
This is also a terrible time to be introducing new taxes on residents and small business owners since many are still feeling the financial pressure brought on by the pandemic.
I encourage you to read these bills (click on bill numbers above for the links) and arrive at your own conclusions.
If you would like to testify on either or both of these bills, please see the instructions below.
TAKE ACTION!
TESTIFY LIVE VIA ZOOM:
DEADLINE to register is 3:00 p.m. TOMORROW, Sunday, March 14.
IT’S EASY ON ZOOM. You will get three minutes to speak. As a reminder, the first hour of the hearing will be reserved for public officials.
A Speaker Order List will be posted on the Finance, Revenue, & Bonding Committee website at 9:00 a.m. on March 15. Look under “Public Hearing Testimony”.
You may also watch the hearing live on YouTube.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
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SUBMIT WRITTEN TESTIMONY:
To submit written testimony, please email a your submission (Word or PDF format) to FINtestimony@cga.ct.gov. Please include your name and in the subject line, please state “NO to bills 171 and 172”.
NOTE: ALL SUBMISSIONS ARE PUBLIC INFORMATION AND WILL BE POSTED ONLINE. DO NOT INCLUDE PERSONAL INFORMATION YOU DO NOT WANT MADE PUBLIC.
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TESTIFY by PHONE:
For those of you without internet access, you may call the Phone Registrant Line at (860) 240-0462 to leave your contact information.
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As always, please contact me if you have any questions about these bills or the public hearing process. I also encourage you to share this information with anyone who may find it useful. This is an important issue for our communities and there are many people who may want to testify.
Email: Tom.ODea@housegop.ct.gov