Survey: Will Connecticut Benefit From A 'Mansion Tax'?

CONNECTICUT — As the now year-long coronavirus pandemic continues to fundamentally — some say permanently — alter the way Connecticut residents live, work and play, it's also wreaking havoc on government revenue streams.

Now, everything is on the table in Hartford, including legal recreational marijuana, expanded sports betting and a property tax. There's been some heated conversations about those first two, but nothing like the kerfuffle kicked up by the third.

State Senate President Martin Looney has championed Senate Bill No. 171, which would establish a state wide tax on commercial and residential real estate property. The rate would be one mill, or $1 for every $1,000 of assessed value, and it would only apply to properties assessed at $300,000 or more.

Practically speaking, and because assessed value in Connecticut is 70 percent of market value, only homes that sell for about $430,000 or more would be subject to the tax.

If enacted, the tax would bring in an additional $70 million to state coffers, which would be used to prop up the perennially under-funded PILOT program, meant to reimburse local municipalities for various unfunded state mandates or property tax exemptions for non-profit organizations.

Proponents of the bill like to call it a "mansion tax," implying it will affect the super-rich who live on estates, and so can afford another tax on their property. There's no doubt that residents of Connecticut's Gold Coast towns would feel the pinch most acutely.

The legislation's opposition is quick to point out that $430,000 doesn't buy anyone much in the way of a mansion in Connecticut, and is skeptical about how much of that tax money will make its way back into the coffers of the local towns and school districts.

Gov. Ned Lamont has said he is against the proposed tax, and doesn't think the bill has a chance of even getting to his desk.

Patch wants to know what its readers think. Is the "mansion tax" finally an opportunity for local school boards and municipal governments to grab some long-overdue compensation, or just another attempt to soak the middle class?