OVERVIEW

PROPERTY TAX DEPENDENCE

• Where Connecticut Ranks
• Unhappy Property Taxpayers: Referenda Rejected, Incumbents Ousted

STATE AID FOR TOWNS AND CITIES

• Recent Trends
• Unmet Promises: Education Aid, PILOTs, TAR, and Pequot-Mohegan
  • Education
  • Non-Education

UNFUNDED AND UNDERFUNDED MANDATES ON MUNICIPALITIES

• Cumulative Impact Daunting
• The Big Ones: Prevailing Wage, Binding Arbitration, Property Tax Exemptions
  • Prevailing Wage
  • Binding Arbitration
  • Mandated Property Tax Exemptions

• Proposals for New Ones Each Year

MUNICIPAL COST DRIVERS UNABATED

• Health Insurance
• Energy Costs: Gas, Oil, Electricity
• Employee Salary Trends
• Public Safety and Crime
• Public Health Responsibilities
• Homeland Security
• Infrastructure Needs
  • Clean Water Projects
  • Local Roads and Bridges

• Pension and Retirement Obligations
• Education In Connecticut
  • Disparities
  • Population Shift, School Population Growth
  • Special Education Costs

OTHER ISSUES

• Home Ownership
• Concentrations of Poverty
• Ethnic and Racial Isolation

SUMMARY: IS THIS “WHINING”?

APPENDIX A: CONNECTICUT'S TOWN-BY-TOWN PROPERTY TAX REVENUE

AS A PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL REVENUE

APPENDIX B: STATE-BY-STATE PROPERTY TAX DEPENDENCY RATES

APPENDIX C: TOWN-BY-TOWN TOTAL REAL ESTATE EXEMPTIONS

AS A PERCENTAGE OF NET TOTAL REAL ESTATE

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