Connecticut already places and insurmountable tax burden upon our residents. To ask any more is unconscionable. All of my Republican colleagues, and even 11 Democrat legislators, shared this sentiment when we voted against the Democrat-proposed tax hike. Unfortunately, this was not enough to steer the State of Connecticut off its self-destructive path.
property tax
Posted inEducation, Health, Money, Politics
Democrats modify tax proposals, but business unimpressed
Democratic legislators are using a two-stage, 50-cent increase in cigarette taxes to lessen — but not to eliminate — controversial income and data processing tax hikes, with the goal of passing a $40.3 billion, two-year state budget plan on Tuesday. The state’s chief business lobby quickly decried the changes as woefully inadequate.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Big business speaks loudly, rattles fragile tax deal
A vote on the tax deal struck over the weekend was delayed Monday as legislative leaders sought revisions demanded by rebellious members, some in response to an outcry by major corporations over a tripling of a computer-services levy and other business taxes.
Posted inMoney, Politics
New budget includes $200 million income tax hit on middle class
A last-minute component of the new two-year state budget deal includes a $100 million-per-year income tax hike on Connecticut’s middle class, according to budget documents released early Monday. The hit comes in the form of a reduced credit for local property tax payments.
Posted inMoney
Malloy administration, legislators shake on tax deal
Legislative leaders struck a tax deal with the administration of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy moments before midnight Saturday, setting the stage for action Monday on a biennium budget that would raise taxes on the wealthy and business, while funding property-tax relief and transportation.
Posted inNews
Legislators, Malloy hovering on brink of a state budget deal
Sources say legislative leaders and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s administration are creeping up on a tentative agreement on a new two-year budget. Few details have leaked, but the sources said spending will be less than the legislature’s Appropriations Committee has recommended, and the latest talks have centered on the taxes that will be required to balance the budget.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Malloy targeting sales tax increase for transportation
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy cautioned legislative leaders in overnight budget talks against using a sales-tax increase for municipal aid, saying he sees the tax as a likely funding source for his ambitious transportation initiative, sources said Thursday.
Posted inMoney, Politics
For cities, towns: Does blocking mandates trump new state aid?
Despite a Senate Democratic plan to pump $700 million in sales tax receipts into communities over the next two years to relieve property taxpayers, municipal leaders took aim Wednesday at another of the caucus’s key initiatives: a mandated expansion of workers’ compensation for police and fire-fighters.
Posted inMoney, Politics
House approves bill to restrict tax exemption for colleges, hospitals
The House of Representatives approved a measure early Friday that would end a portion of the municipal tax exemption long possessed by private, nonprofit colleges and hospitals.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Would state sales tax hike really translate into local tax relief?
The fate of a major proposed expansion of Connecticut’s sales tax may not hinge solely on the objections of businesses and consumers. The key question could be whether cities and towns — the prime beneficiaries of these potential sales tax receipts — would use those funds to lower property taxes or to expand local spending.
Posted inMoney, Politics
A shorthand breakdown of the new state tax proposal
It’s easy to get lost in the numbers of the new revenue plan a legislative panel recommended Wednesday for the next two-year state budget. For those keeping score at home, here’s a rundown of the major points of the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee’s plan.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Malloy scorns both parties’ legislative budget plans
OLD SAYBROOK — Gov. Dannel P. Malloy dismissed Democratic and GOP revisions to his budget proposal as political posturing Thursday, setting a chilly tone as the administration and General Assembly begin to negotiate a compromise budget.
Posted inMoney
Defying Malloy, legislators pitch a $1.8 billion revenue increase
A key legislative panel broke Wednesday with Gov. Dannel P. Malloy by recommending a plan that bolsters state tax and fee receipts by more than $1.8 billion over the next two fiscal years, including more than $540 million in new income taxes on the wealthy and an overhaul of the sales tax.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Address Connecticut’s spending problem, not the automobile tax law
Senate Democrats are proposing to create a new level of government that would absorb a portion of local taxes to be allocated to other cities or towns. The bill would take money away from the towns that have it, and give it to the towns that need it based on their population numbers and property values. Instead, we should be reevaluating the government’s spending problem, which has been ignored for years.
Posted inPolitics
Looney: Glaring car tax disparities must be closed
State budget problems have blocked recent efforts to repeal Connecticut’s car tax. But even though a big deficit is forecast for next year, the Senate’s top leader says the state at least can act now to fix the car levy’s greatest flaw – a huge gap between urban and suburban tax rates.