Several New Taxes Proposed For Connecticut

HARTFORD, CT — A number of tax increase proposals could burn a hole in Connecticut taxpayer wallets. Among some of the proposals are an increased sales tax, the ability to tax real estate at a higher rate and taxes that will specifically target the rich.

Gov. Dannel Malloy criticized sharp tax increase proposals at a Friday afternoon press conference. (Get Patch's Daily Newsletter and Real Time News Alerts. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the free Patch app.)

“Too much thought is going into how to raise additional money, and too little thought going into how do we live within our approximate means,” he said, adding that budget challenges can’t be solved with a “revenue-driven answer.”

Connecticut is facing a combined $3.6 billion budget deficit for the next two fiscal years.

Related: Malloy Preparing To Layoff Thousands Of CT Employees If No Union Agreement

The finance, revenue and bonding committee will hear a number of proposals Tuesday. One proposal involves raising the sales tax to 6.99 percent from 6.35 percent. It would cause an uptick at the register for anyone purchasing goods, but other proposals would have harder-hitting consequences.

Here’s the one real estate owners both big and small won’t like: A proposal calls for allowing municipalities to tax at 100 percent of assessed value. Currently municipalities charge at an assessed value of 70 percent. A home assessed at $300,000 in a town with a mill rate of 25 would go from a tax bill of $5,250 to $7,500 per year. That assumes the town doesn’t change the mill rate to compensate.

Another proposal would increase the state income tax on the highest earners to 7.49 percent from 6.99 percent.

The proposals come on top of other effective tax increase proposals. Currently legislators are debating either increasing the bottle deposit fee to 10 cents from 5 cents, which would add up to more revenue for state coffers when people don’t deposit their bottles. A separate proposal calls for eliminating the bottle tax altogether.

Tolls throughout the state could become a reality as well.

Another proposal calls for a 1-cent-per-ounce excise tax on beverages that contain added sugar. The tax could raise more than $85 million per year. Legislators have also put forward a 5 cent tax for single-use carryout bags. It’s estimated that a billion such bags are used in the state per year.

One tax Connecticut won't have is one on recreational marijuana. A bill that proposed legalizing use of the drug died before making it to a full vote.

Additional tax ideas come on the heels of an announcement that state employee layoffs may be more of a reality. If union concessions aren’t reached soon, more than 1,000 employees would be laid off come May. A total of 4,200 layoffs could be possible in the near future.

Part of a proposed bill would encourage more regional collaboration for shared services including public safety answering points, regional policing, public works projects, school services, regional libraries and economic development.

See also: UConn Investigating Professor's Potentially Inappropriate E-Mail

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