Lamont shares wealth details
Democratic candidate reveals taxes, challenges GOP rival to do the same
NEW HAVEN — The year
2016 wasn’t a great earnings period for Ned Lamont. He made only $1.5 million.
It was the year after he sold the last piece of the Greenwich based cable-TV wiring company he founded more than
30 years earlier to focus on venturecapital investments that are now his main source of income.
But in 2017, he was back in the money, with a total income of more than $5.3 million, mostly dividends and capital gains, according to the last five years of taxfiling summaries the Democratic candidate for governor made available to Connecticut’s news media on Friday.
In a bid for openness and disclosure during this hotly contested governor’s race, Lamont let reporters with pens and paper copy down the vital statistics of his earnings and taxes from the last five years, filed with the Internal Revenue Service and the state Department of Revenue Services. They were not allowed to photograph or make photocopies of the top-two pages of his returns, which Lamont filed as an individual, although his
wife, Ann H. Lamont, is highly successful private investor in her own right.
In an age when some politicians, such as President Donald J. Trump, ignore public and news media requests on the details of private wealth, taxes and charitable contributions, Lamont was making a statement. Through the majority of the campaign, Lamont has said he would show his tax returns when his opponent, Bob Stefanowski of Madison, would release his. So Lamont’s release of the cover sheets on Friday could serve as a public challenge to his rival.
The returns, which were filed each year in the fall, under rules to allow for extensions, indicate Lamont made nearly $2.58 million in
2013; $3.2 million in 2014;
$5.3 million in 2015;
$1,505,605 in 2016; and
$5,348,498 in 2017.
“The release of my tax returns provides more information than anyone else in this race has shared with the people of Connecticut,” Lamont said in a statement issued along with an overall summary of income and taxes that were handed to reporters who arrived at a New Havcen lawyer’s office at noon.
“This is about transparency, and about being open and honest with voters,” Lamont said. “Donald Trump refused to release his tax returns, and so far Bob Stefanowski — who gave Trump an ‘A’ grade for job performance — has followed in his footsteps.”
In recent weeks Oz Griebel, the unaffiliated candidate for governor, released an abridged summary of his 2017 federal returns, but said he’s willing to release other details.
On Thursday afternoon, following the hourlong debate for governor in Hartford sponsored by the Connecticut Broadcasters Association, Stefanowski, who first said on Sept. 17 that he would release his returns, said “We’re working on it,” when asked by a Hearst Connecticut Media reporter.
Lamont used the disclosure of his tax information to criticize Stefanowski’s campaign proposals.
“Bob has a Trump-like scheme to raise property taxes on the middle class in order to cut income taxes for Connecticut’s wealthiest residents — all at the expense of good schools, better roads, and affordable health care,” Lamont said. “So it’s no surprise Bob is avoiding telling people the truth about where his income is from, how he stands to benefit from his own plan, and what he has contributed in taxes to our state.”
After the release of the tax details Friday afternoon, a spokesman for Stefanowski, a consultant and former international corporate executive, said the Republican candidate will soon be releasing his taxes.
“I don't begrudge Ned for inheriting his fortune, however, it seems to have put him out of touch with the needs of the hard-working people of Connecticut's middle class,” Kendall Marr said in a statement. “Perhaps that is why he believes single mothers who are working two jobs should be sending more of their money to the state in the form of higher income taxes, a new statewide car tax, and tolls on our roads.”
Marr said Stefanowski “realizes that our status as the 2nd highest taxed state per capita is unacceptable and has a bold plan to jumpstart our economy and allow our citizens to keep more of their hard-earned money. To Ned, our tax burden may just seem like a drop in the bucket, but to the middle-class families who will save thousands tax relief is a big deal.”
Following Marr’s statement, Marc Bradley, Lamont’s campaign manager, said Stefanowski might be reluctant to reveal crucial details that voters should be aware of.
“As usual, Bob is trying to distract from the fact that his own tax plan would help himself and other wealthy people in Connecticut at the expense of the middle class,” Bradley said Friday night. “What’s he hiding? He didn’t bother to vote for 16 years, has he also avoided paying taxes? Has Bob made charitable contributions to help struggling students or communities in Connecticut, as Ned has?”