The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
State says no to tax payments for Torrington
Communities sought $5M in supplemental vehicle receipts
The three communities seeking more than $5 million in supplemental vehicle tax payments from the state will have to take their argument to the Legislature.
In a Jan. 3 letter to Office of Policy and Management Secretary Ben Barnes, the mayors of Torrington, Bridgeport and Hamden asked the office to release about $5 million in supplemental motor-vehicle tax payments the administration decided to hold back in November.
Barnes said in a Jan. 5 letter he was unable to do that.
“Unfortunately, I do not believe that OPM is in a position to approve the release of these funds until the Legislature takes up deficit mitigation,” Barnes wrote. “Bluntly said, I cannot make matters worse without addressing the more than $200 million in deficit we face this year already.”
He said Monday he is sympathetic to their plight,
but until the Legislature resolves the current budget deficit, his hands are tied.
The three towns are the only ones with tax rates above 39 mills affected in this way by the new twoyear budget signed by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on Oct. 31.
The three towns’ revaluations were not considered in the motor-vehicle tax reimbursement calculation for the new budget, which means the towns are not going to receive money to cover the difference between their tax rates and the state-mandated 39-mill cap on car taxes.
“As a result of this discrepancy of motor vehicle tax reimbursement, our cities are facing unfair hardship including millions slashed from already lean budgets, and potentially mid-year layoffs of teachers and 2 closing schools, threatening the quality of education and life in our communities,” the three mayors said. “This particular discrepancy — in our view — also violates the principles of the original SB1 proposal to make municipalities whole for lost motor vehicle tax revenue while capping the mill rate on cars to give our residents much needed tax relief.”
Legislators, who held a special session Monday to restore $54 million for the Medicare Savings Program, which helps more than 100,000 elderly and disabled pay their Part B premiums and co-pays, are working on deficit mitigation plans.
House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz, D-Berlin, said in the next few weeks they will have a plan to tackle a $224 million deficit in fiscal year 2018.
Both Democratic and Republican legislative leaders said they are working on their deficit-mitigation plans, but are unlikely to release them until after Jan. 16, when the consensus revenue estimates are released.
At the end of December, Malloy presented legislative leaders with more than $303 million in spending cuts and tax increases.
Aresimowicz said he hasn’t taken anything off the table as far as options for closing the deficit.
House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, R-Derby, said she is not looking at tax increases in compiling her deficit-mitigation plan.
Senate Democratic President Martin M. Looney, D-New Haven, who represents Hamden, said he believes the three communities should get the funding.
It was not immediately clear whether the funding would be restored as part of a deficit-mitigation package.