JOBS

got to do.”

‘An effort to hold the line’

What Lamont can do will be limited by a budget that is projected by state Comptroller Kevin Lembo to run a $158 million surplus for the fiscal year that ends next June before hitting major deficits in coming years; and a General Assembly that did not back Malloy’s initiatives across the board.

Lamont said he will phase out Connecticut’s business entity tax that generated $45 million in revenue in the 2017 fiscal year, which amounts to only $125 a year but is maligned by many business owners for its application regardless of whether a company turned a profit.

The incoming governor would also reduce Connecticut’s capital stock tax — at 0.37 percent of a company’s assets last year the highest of 16 states that charge one, according to the Tax Foundation — without saying by how much. Like New York, which is currently phasing out its own capital stock tax, Connecti- cut levies the tax only if the revenue would exceed that it would collect from taxes on business income.

And Lamont would waive taxes on personal property for businesses with less than $10,000 in qualifying assets. The governor-elect acknowledges the state would lose little revenue but maintains it is a headache for small businesses.

“We’re going to hold the line on the income tax … (and) I will reduce the property tax, just enough to let your people know that we’re making an effort to hold the line there,” Lamont said during an Oct. 30 debate at Foxwoods Resort Casino. “I’m going to be ruthless when it comes to looking at our health care expenses, looking at pension reform, looking at the big-ticket items that allow us to get this state going again.”

‘One step at a time’

Asked at a mid-September debate in New Haven on his policy regarding financial incentives for businesses — a major leg of Malloy’s economic development efforts ranging from “First Five” grants for corporations to Small Business Express loans — Lamont suggested Connecticut will replace handouts with high-touch engagement to land growing companies. His business advisory team includes fellow Greenwich resident and former Pepsico CEO Indra Nooyi, who had been credited with opening a channel to the CEO of the information technology outsourcing company Infosys, which will receive at least $14 million in incentives if it hits a target of 1,000 jobs in Hartford.

With Malloy having mixed success with incentives to spur job growth — major victories include Charter Communications bringing its headquarters to Stamford — Lamont said he hopes to rely more on the power of persuasion.

“We lead with a bribe, and it’s the wrong way to go,” Lamont said in mid-September at the New Haven debate. “The First Five program was a disaster for the state of Connecticut, (with) the governor picking and choosing. … You do it one step at a time going forward: not bribes, not incentives, not giveaways, not herky-jerky tax policy — consistency and reliability.”