Sen. Roraback Votes Against Initiative To Permit Municipalities To Shift Tax Burden From Homeowners To Businesses

Senator Andrew Roraback, R-Goshen, today voted against legislation that would permit municipalities to shift a portion of their property tax burden from homeowners to businesses.

The bill, SB 598 , was introduced by the 20 Senate Democrats and passed Tuesday afternoon with all Republicans voting “no”. The House of Representatives has until the close of the regular legislative session at midnight tomorrow to take further action on the bill.

“By introducing this bill, I feel the proponents are holding out false hope to Connecticut’s cities and towns that there is a quick fix for our problems with the property tax system. Not only is this legislation not a quick fix, it will become the source of many, far greater, problems if it is allowed to become law. I will do what I can to convince my fellow legislators in the House of Representatives to vote against this bill if it comes before them before the session ends tomorrow,” said Senator Roraback.

This legislation permits any municipality to charge up to a 15% surcharge on non-residential property other than motor vehicles. Furthermore, municipalities that meet certain qualifications defined in the legislation would be permitted to impose up to a 40% surcharge on non-residential property other than motor vehicles.
“To require local small businesses to pay more in property taxes will only result in less commercial activity in our towns. Our job should be to foster a business-friendly environment in our state. While property tax relief is clearly needed in Connecticut, this is not the responsible way to achieve it,” said Senator Roraback.