Leaders of Connecticut Small Towns: Keep the Car Tax

Already concerned about leaders of small towns from across Connecticut will be in Hartford today to testify against the governor's request to eliminate local car taxes.

In Groton, the town would lose $4.19 million if the General Assembly accepts Malloy's proposal to eliminate the local tax on all cars valued at less than $28,500, according to figures drafted by the state's Office of Fiscal Analysis.

In a memo to the Groton Town Council last month, Town Manager Mark Oefinger wrote: “This will have a huge impact in shifting the tax burden to businesses and residential taxpayers.”

Malloy has offered the plan as tax relief for the middle class, arguing that car taxes don't provide as much local revenue as officials believe because it is difficult and costly to collect, according to a report on the website Ct News Junkie.

But local officials complain that Malloy's proposal would put a serious dent in their budgets, costing some towns millions of dollars annually, revenue that will have to be made up by raising local taxes on other business property and real estate.

The proposal, which is being aired today in a hearing befor the legislature's Finance, Revenue, and Bonding Committee, would leaver her community "no other option but to raise property taxes on business and homeowners,” Somers First Selectwoman Lisa Pellegrini told Ct News Junkie.