New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
‘Mansion tax’ the wrong fit for Conn.
Bueckers plays the most minutes for UConn and wouldn’t have it any other way
Acommon theme among various measures winding their way through the General Assembly this session has been a need for new revenue. A pandemicinduced slowdown will do that, and lawmakers are turning over every rock looking for ways to pay for government functions.
That is behind drives to legalize recreational marijuana and sports gaming. A group of progressive legislators is seeking widespread tax increases on wealthier residents. And Senate President Martin Looney has proposed a statewide property tax, on top of the local property tax everyone pays, to help cities that have an overabundance of nontaxable properties within their borders.
His aim is laudable. But this is not the time to be adding to the tax load for a wide swath of state residents who may already be struggling to pay the bills.
The rate would be one mill, or $1 for every $1,000 of assessed value, and it would only apply to properties assessed at $300,000 or more. Because assessed value in Connecticut is 70 percent of market value, that means only homes that sell for about $430,000 or more would be subject to the surtax.
This has led some to dub the plan a “mansion tax” and argue that those subject to it wouldn’t be hardpressed to pay it, or maybe even notice it.
That’s certainly true for many. But anyone familiar with Connecticut real estate, especially in Fairfield County, knows that home prices here are not like they are in the rest of the country. There are homes that could have been owned for decades that are now assessed at mansion-like prices, but that doesn’t mean the owners are wealthy.
At the same time, Connecticut is reporting an influx of new residents, apparently a reaction from out-of-staters, specifically New Yorkers, who are interested in some breathing room amid a still-ongoing pandemic. The last thing we want to do is dissuade people from considering a new Connecticut home.
The problem the tax aims to solve is real. Cities are excessively burdened with properties that serve the public good but are not subject to regular property taxes, such as government buildings and hospitals. The state has a program known as PILOT
that is meant to fill those gaps, but it rarely comes close to paying out what cities could otherwise earn. It leaves struggling cities in an even deeper hole.
Regardless of the plan’s specifics, Gov. Ned Lamont has shown no indication that he would sign such a bill, were it to pass. He has made a lack of tax increases one of his signature policies, and is unlikely to go back on it now. Whether that remains tenable going forward is uncertain, but he’s not going to sign on to this proposal.
None of this solves the real problems cities find themselves in with nontaxable properties. The state has revenue needs that go beyond digging our way our from the pandemic slowdown.
But a new property tax isn’t the way to get there. If anything, the property tax system that communities depend on to fund local government needs a wholesale rethink. The state shouldn’t become even more dependent on it.
There are homes that could have been owned for decades that are now assessed at mansion-like prices, but that doesn’t make the owners wealthy.
Paige Bueckers was pulled out of the Big East championship game March 8 with 3:23 remaining and UConn leading Marquette by 32. A celebration was underway and so, too, was Bueckers’ latest sideline confrontation with coach Geno Auriemma.
“She was (complaining) about playing time again,” Auriemma said during the postgame press conference. “One of our players was at the free throw line (earlier) and she yelled, ‘Miss,’ because she knew she was coming out (on a dead ball). I love her and everything, but there’s something not quite right about her.”
Brian Cosgriff finds this hilarious.
He knows pulling Bueckers from a game can lead to drama.
“Massive arguments,” said Cosgriff, who coached Bueckers at Hopkins High in Minnetonka, Minn. “Paige always has to have the last word. We’d be up by 40 and my whole thing was, I didn’t want to get her hurt. I didn’t want her injured, and I had 18 kids on the team. I’m like, ‘OK, you’ve got your 25, we’re up by 40, let some other kids play.’
“Oh, she’d give me an earful. Most of the time, I’d just take it — because it’s Paige and that’s just her. But depending on my mood, I might snap back. The things Geno is dealing with … are the exact same things I would deal with. It’s comical.”
There might not be a better freshman player in America than Bueckers. There might not be a better