TAXED TO THE MAX
Democrats are still relying too much on your money to fix Connecticut’s budget problems
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. That is exactly what this budget is — insane.”
Themis Klarides, above, former state House Republican leader.
If you were a Connecticut resident who heard Gov. Ned Lamont’s budget address, you would think you were living in a different state. The governor spoke of making Connecticut more affordable, but the list of priorities he released will do just the opposite. As Connecticut families have cut back and made sacrifices to get through the coronavirus pandemic, the state has failed to cut a single dollar from the budget.
Lamont’s Democratic allies, meanwhile, unveiled a litany of proposed legislation that would implement a statewide property tax, institute highway tolls throughout the state and even levy fines on individuals who fail to vote. After a decade’s worth of record tax increases, Democrats still cannot find enough ways to drain every cent they can from Connecticut residents.
Lamont’s budget does nothing to address the fact that Connecticut has some of the highest property taxes in the country. This massive tax burden hurts young families looking to settle down and grow; it hurts small businesses that have already been crushed by the pandemic; and it pushes seniors to find greener and cheaper pastures for retirement. The average Connecticut homeowner pays an astounding $5,327 per year — the highest property tax rate in New England. This puts us at a competitive disadvantage when our neighbors in New York and Massachusetts have more affordable property tax rates.
Nor does the governor do anything to address the structural budget deficits looming just over the hill. Instead, he reminds us we have a wellfunded rainy-day fund and friends in Washington to bail us out. When your strategy is to drain your reserves and count on a global pandemic, you, in fact, have no strategy.
Not only families and small businesses will feel the pressure from the governor’s budget, but cities and towns across the state will feel it too. This budget freezes education funding while schools deal with preventing the spread of COVID-19 — again, shifting the burden on mayors and first selectmen to increase property taxes to cover the additional costs.
When Democrats increased the sales tax in 2011, they implemented the municipal revenue-sharing program, which was designed to send those additional sales tax revenues back to local municipalities. Not in this budget. Those funds, which total $763 million over the next two years, will be frozen and kept in the general fund, starving our local governments of that muchneeded revenue and once again forcing them to raise property taxes to cover the decrease of
previously promised state dollars.
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. That is exactly what this budget is — insane. It utilizes the same budgetary tricks and gimmicks that got us into this mess. Remember when Dan Malloy said we could save $180 million by creating employee suggestion boxes for state workers? This is no different.
The president of the New
York Stock Exchange recently authored an op-ed warning
New York lawmakers that their proposed legislation to increase taxes could force the company to relocate. Given our location and history in the financial industry, Connecticut should be in a prime position to bring the stock exchange here. Sadly, business leaders have bypassed and even left Connecticut due to our high taxes, crumbling mass transit and unfunded pension liabilities.
Our state faces a deficit of political courage to address the structural changes needed to meet our pension responsibilities, educate our children and modernize our outdated transit system. Gov. Lamont’s budget aims small and still misses the mark when we need big, bold ideas to make our state more affordable and open to business. Connecticut deserves a governor who will be transparent about the challenges we face, not one who will simply kick the can down the road for another generation.
Themis Klarides is former state House Republican leader.