Massachusetts lawmakers — a place where municipalities rely heavily on property taxes — gave their cities and towns a powerful new revenue-raising tool.
The Cities Project
The Cities Project was a 2019 partnership between CT Mirror, Connecticut Public Radio, Hartford Business Journal, Hartford Courant, the eight Hearst daily newspapers, Republican-American, and Purple States to explore the challenges and solutions related to revitalizing Connecticut’s cities.
Posted inCities & Towns, News
Myriad ideas exist to solve Hartford’s property tax dilemma
Owner John Tornatore’s Gordon Bonetti Florist is one casualty of Hartford’s unique property tax system, which leans more heavily on businesses than homeowners. Tornatore pulled up stakes for neighboring Wethersfield, where he says he’s enjoying much lower tax bills. For years, John Tornatore chafed at the high personal and real estate property taxes the city […]
Posted inCities & Towns, News
Hartford’s exorbitant commercial property tax curbs economic growth
At 74.29 mills, Hartford’s property-tax rate is by far the state’s highest and among the nation’s highest. That has stifled economic growth in the city.
Posted inCities & Towns, News
Meet the architect of Hartford’s bifurcated tax system
As a result of a pending reval in 1978, some Hartford homeowners faced tax hikes of 80 percent or more. City officials needed a solution – fast.
Posted inCities & Towns, News
Newburgh, N.Y., may have a solution for blighted properties Connecticut can use
Newburgh, N.Y. has a strong cadre of people working on revitalization — and a land bank that has proved a key tool in that effort. It’s a tool Connecticut cities are seeking to adopt as well.
Posted inCities & Towns, News
City Revival — Did We Learn From the Urban Renewal Era?
Many Connecticut cities are seeing a 21st century renewal. Are they getting it right — or at least better — this time?
Posted inNews
Former Bridgeport factory goes from blighted to revitalized
Investments in the neighborhood will total nearly $1 billion by the time construction ends in six or seven years.
Posted inNews
Building better cities, one cleanup at a time
Once engines of Connecticut’s prosperity, the state’s former factories have long been massive liabilities for struggling cities. Connecticut has found a path to get these sites back into use, and it’s fueled with taxpayer money.
Posted inNews
Cities left to deal with the shells of industry
One key to a better future for Connecticut’s cities could lie beneath the ugly scars from its industrial past, but the state the state doesn’t track number of jobs created or taxes generated after cleanup or even keep an inventory of its brownfield sites.
Posted inEconomic Development
A Time For Cities
For the next several months a remarkable partnership of media organizations will take a close look at Connecticut cities. We call it The Cities Project.