by Karla Ciaglo CTNewsJunkie
With property values climbing faster than paychecks, many Connecticut homeowners are facing municipal tax increases — and Republican lawmakers say the state’s record surplus should be part of the solution.
Republican leaders and Republican officials from Bristol, Wallingford, and Seymour urged lawmakers Tuesday to direct about $500 million from the state’s unbudgeted volatile revenue toward property tax relief. Volatile funds come primarily from estimated and final personal income tax payments and pass-through entity tax revenue. The state normally uses such funds beyond its volatility cap to pay down pension debt.
They argued that a wave of state-mandated revaluations, combined with a new vehicle-tax formula, has pushed many residents — particularly seniors — to the financial brink.
“When you look at the numbers, you can see people are being priced out of their homes,” said Bristol Mayor Jeff Caggiano. “Seniors are hurting the most.”
Bristol’s 2022 revaluation increased the average home’s assessed value by 35%, while changes to how car values are calculated under state law cost the city about $1 million in motor-vehicle tax revenue.
“Underfunding in areas like special education adds to the strain,” Caggiano said, noting that the city’s special education deficit has more than tripled since 2019, rising from $2 million to $6.6 million this year after adjustments to stay MBR compliant.
The Republican proposal, introduced by Rep. Joe Poletta, R-Watertown, would triple the state’s property tax credit, raising the maximum benefit to $700 and the minimum to $400. It would also expand eligibility to include single filers earning up to $20,000 and joint filers earning up to $30,000. The measure carries an estimated annual cost of $501 million, which Poletta noted is equal to the amount Democrats have proposed placing in a new special fund to offset potential federal funding cuts to various programs.
House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford, said Democrats had effectively weakened the state’s volatility cap — a key fiscal guardrail designed to limit the use of unpredictable revenue sources — by transferring funds between the surplus and volatility accounts to finance new initiatives.
Democrats have defended the adjustments to the state’s fiscal guardrails as necessary investments, which include expanded early childhood and child care programs, increases in Medicaid and special education funding, and the launch of a new child tax credit. Those initiatives, they say, respond to longstanding affordability pressures for working families.
Candelora argued that those adjustments, along with other spending decisions, increased state expenditures by roughly $1.5 billion. He said 25% of those surplus funds should be redirected toward broad-based tax relief rather than expanding state programs.
“We think this is a proposal that people across the state can get behind,” he said, adding that mayors and first selectmen have voiced growing concern about how rising assessments and tax pressures are affecting residents.
Wallingford Mayor Vincent Cervoni said the burden has been especially acute in communities that recently completed revaluations. Wallingford’s 2024 update increased property values by 40%, which led to an average tax bill increase of about 19% despite the town keeping its budget growth below 4%.
“The way to benefit homeowners is for the state law to change,” Cervoni said. “This credit is crucial to allow us to provide assistance to homeowners who again are being priced out of their homes by a market that they don’t quite understand.”
Under state law, Connecticut’s 169 municipalities must revalue property every five years. Revaluations scheduled for 2026 will affect roughly 30 more towns, potentially shifting more of the tax burden from commercial to residential properties.
Seymour First Selectwoman Annmarie Drugonis described a similar situation. She said her town has a waiting list of about 1,300 residents seeking senior housing because they can no longer afford to stay in their homes.
“It’s heartbreaking,” she said.
Statewide, home prices have risen more than 60% in the past five years, driven by post-pandemic migration and low housing inventory. The median home price reached $461,700 in September, up 7.4% from a year earlier. In towns such as Litchfield, East Lyme, and Darien, property values have climbed more than 50% since 2020.
Republican lawmakers also pointed to the state’s new vehicle assessment formula as a factor increasing local pressure. The system, which uses a fixed depreciation schedule based on Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price, was designed to stabilize tax bills after the pandemic-era spike in used-car values. However, several municipalities have reported revenue losses, with some, like Waterbury, choosing to opt out of the program.
“This has created a perfect storm,” saidCandelora. “We’re shrinking the base and pushing more of the cost onto homeowners.”
In Hamden, the 2024 revaluation raised the grand list by 39.6%, with residential property values up 48% and vehicle values down 13%. North Haven saw a 28% overall increase and a 37% rise in residential assessments despite a 14% drop in vehicle values. West Hartford reported a $50 million loss in vehicle assessments, even though the town’s grand list still increased slightly by $8,551,172, or 0.12%, due to gains in real and personal property values.”
Democratic leaders and Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration defended the state’s fiscal approach, emphasizing that the guardrails have helped stabilize Connecticut’s finances and rebuild reserves after years of deficits. Lawmakers earlier this year made targeted adjustments to the volatility cap to allow more flexibility for funding child care, health programs, and education..
“Governor Lamont is supportive of policies that make life more affordable and reduce burdens on middle-class and working families, and that includes through property tax relief while also supporting key social service programs, such as WIC, SNAP, and health coverage that have unfortunately been impacted by Republicans in Congress,” said Rob Blanchard, the governor’s communications director. “Governor Lamont enacted the largest income tax cut in Connecticut history and he wants to continue on that path. Additionally, he appreciates House Republicans thinking about this issue, despite their counterpart in the Senate launching an affordability tour six months ago that hasn’t yielded any ideas at all.”
Republicans say they plan to push for a vote when the General Assembly convenes its special session on November 11, following local elections.
Editor’s note: This story has been corrected to better reflect source of funding.