New London weighs revenue ideas
Proposals by board include rental fees, speed-limit cameras
New London — There’s apparently no pot of gold waiting to be unearthed in the city, but members of a specially appointed board have a few ideas about how to generate revenue for the cash-strapped city with nonprofits being one potential target.
The Municipal Revenue Board pitched its list of recommendations to the City Council on Monday — ideas that range from a moratorium on nonprofits to installation of speed-limit cameras on some of the city’s major thoroughfares.
Board Chairman John Johnson said many of the ideas, such as a proposed change in the tax structure to incentivize building improvements, are also a way to improve the overall quality of life in the city. Such is the case with a recommendation that the city amend an existing ordinance that requires licensing and inspections for buildings such as hotels and rooming houses to also include multi-family homes.
In what he said may be the first initiative, board member Marcus Fisk said the city could follow New Haven’s lead and set fees for two- and three-family non-owner-occupied homes, along with homes with four or more units. Fisk and his wife own the Coastal Cottage Inn bed and breakfast.
New Haven, with its Residential Rental Licensing Program, is the only city in the state with such a program and has already withstood a court challenge, Fisk said. New Haven charges a $100 yearly rate for the twoand three-family dwellings and $40 per unit for properties with four or more units.
Fisk said the move would not help the city monitor conditions at the rental units but would address the fact that 60 to 65 percent of residents in the city are renters who don’t pay taxes. The city would also require inspections from building officials, health department and the fire marshal under the plan.
“The philosophy is basically, if you’re drawing revenue in a rental scenario, technically it’s a business and you should probably have some type of business license,” Johnson said. “And the other purpose behind the inspections is to protect the city from liability.”
With an influx of new employees at Electric Boat and the potential for a housing shortage, Fisk said, it was an opportune time for the city to take a leadership role and hold landlords accountable while helping to improve the city’s housing stock.
While the board estimates from $263,580 to $295,552 in new revenue from the idea, it is unclear whether some or all of the revenue might be offset by work performed by city employees for inspections. The program in New Haven was instituted to “protect the safety, health and welfare of New Haven residents by identifying deficiencies on the premise,” and appears to be revenue-neutral there, said board member Rob Funk.
The board also recommends a fee for police and fire services for tax-exempt organizations, such as Connecticut College or the Homeless Hospitality Center. Such a move would require passage of state legislation, something the city has unsuccessfully pushed for in recent years.
Negotiations for a possible yearly payment in lieu of taxes from Connecticut College and Lawrence + Memorial Hospital are ongoing, Johnson said.
Mitchell College, with nearly 70 acres on the tax-exempt list, signed a four-year agreement with the city last year that provides a yearly fee schedule starting at $29,000 in 2017 that rises to $32,000 in 2020. The tax the college pays on a taxable parcel of land is subtracted from that total. City records show the college paid $12,181 above its tax bill this year.
Slightly more than 44 percent of city properties are tax-exempt.
Other ideas generated by the revenue board include consideration of a traffic court to be able to capture revenue from fines and and a residential parking pass program that would cost car owners $50 a year and potentially generate $1 million a year for the city.
“What we’re trying to say is we have an opportunity in New London to lead on some of this stuff,” Fisk said. “It’s going to be a little bit painful but, by and large, if we can implement some of it, we’re going to be able to take New London (into) a leadership position.”
The revenue board, which was appointed by Mayor Michael Passero last year, completed its work and is expected to disband.
Members of the City Council on Monday seemed enthused by the ideas presented and voted unanimously to move the recommendations to the Economic Development Committee for further discussion.