 Connecticut's 2013 General Assembly meets for a six month
session in January. Odd-numbered years
generally concentrate on local laws and statutes for municipalities and
relations with the state government in the so-called "long sessions." This month, several bills have been introduced to permit
municipalities flexibility
in how and what they tax, as well as specific
language permitting a municipality to enact land value tax. The sponsors are led by the New Haven
Connecticut legislative delegation. We expect to interview them in the near
future.
UrbanTools is pleased to announce this broad follow-up to
the 2009
law that permitted New London Connecticut to design and enact a land value
tax program; with that effort currently on hold. Meanwhile, many state leaders
and municipal officials still believe that LVT can play an important role in a
post-recessionary time that is seen tax increases at the state level and steady
reduction in state aid to hard-pressed cities. One vital tool as part of the program to make cities more
self-sustaining and less dependent on the whims of the economy is the land
value tax; as an expression of the Henry George Theorem, which
asserts that land values in a city can actually pay for most or all city
services (this term was first popularized by Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph
Stiglitz in his "Theory
of Local Public Goods"). Initial study by UrbanTools of several Connecticut cities (such
as Norwalk), indicates land value tax would provide an environment
conducive to private market investment, as well as significantly reduce the
burden of taxation for citizens at all economic levels who build, invest, and
produce.
Evidence from other cities such as Hartford, New Haven, and
New London indicate that the property tax would be converted to a progressive
tax with adoption of land value taxation. Check in often as the legislative session moves forward. |
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