Local property taxes could become focus of state elections

The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, which normally represents towns and cities in the state Capitol and before the General Assembly, wants voters this election season to ask candidates some tough questions on the thorniest of issues: local property taxes.

In a new issues report and an accompanying video featuring Joe DeLong, executive director and CEO of the nonprofit advocacy organization, CCM contends that while local property taxes are the main means of paying for town and city government services, if voters can focus on as few as three issues, they might prod action from the next General Assembly, which convenes on Jan. 4.

For starters, DeLong suggests that voters — and candidates — be made aware of the 1,400 unfunded mandates — requirements for local government for which the legislature provides no money. Examples of unfunded mandates, included in a state compendium, include the cost of developing affordable housing plans and paying so-called prevailing wages for municipal construction projects.

“We are asking for the public to engage with the people who want to represent you and find out where they stand on these issues,” DeLong said. But while he says that the CCM’s three core proposals are “simple solutions,” state lawmakers are well aware of them and at best, they only act incrementally every year when town and city leaders ask for mandate relief.

“A mandate is when the General Assembly passes into statute something that a community must do, but does not give the community any funding or support in doing it,” DeLong said. “So what does that mean? That gets funneled into the property tax.” DeLong suggests that voters ask candidates to identify some mandates they would repeal.

“If your candidate says ‘I’m not willing to repeal any of those because I think they’re all important,’ well how about this: How about asking them to commit to passing legislation that going forward would require a two-thirds vote of the General Assembly to enact any new mandates,” DeLong said. “That would provide a significant protection to Connecticut taxpayers.”

Property tax revenue is at least 90 percent of total revenue in a dozen towns; is at least 80 percent of total revenue in 69 towns; and is at least 75 percent of total revenues in 92 towns, CCM reported.

A more-thorny issue to save money, DeLong admitted, is changing local collective bargaining rules at the local level to allow municipal workers to cross borders into neighboring towns. “That means you can ask someone to do their job 10 miles in one direction, but not 10 feet in another,” he said of the current system. “We should never be collectively bargaining away our ability to work together as a state.” He called for a way for unions both within various communities and their next door neighbors to bargain as coalitions.

Finally, CCM believes that the state needs to support a change and diversification in ways that towns and cities can obtain tax revenue. “Connecticut residents are taxed enough,” DeLong said. “We don’t need new taxes to generate additional revenues, but what we do need is to change our tax code to collect revenues in a more-diversified, more competitive way to relieve some pressure on the property tax and spread it out into other parts of our economy.”

The result would be homeowner relief; seniors on fixed incomes could remain in place; and small businesses would be provided stability and predictability, DeLong said.