Instead of eliminating the statewide property tax on 90 percent of motor vehicles like Gov. Dannel P. Malloy proposed in February, a bipartisan commission created by House Speaker Brendan Sharkey is looking at setting a statewide mill rate for property taxes on vehicles.

Continue reading "Lawmakers Float Statewide Motor Vehicle Tax Proposal" »

Tags: motor vehicle, taxes, municipalities, Brendan Sharkey, Jeffrey Berger, dh

Lauded as a conservative hero for taking on the public employee unions in Wisconsin in 2010-11, Gov. Scott Walker reminded Connecticut Republicans on Monday that it’s possible to turn a blue state red.

—More photos.

Continue reading "Republicans Embrace Some Of Walker’s Message" »

Tags: Scott Walker, John McKinney, Tom Foley, Stamford, Larry Dorman, unions, Koch Brothers, dh

Everyone hates taxes, right? Well, apparently not all taxes, all the time — a new poll of 500 voters sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids found that a staggering 70 percent favored raising taxes on cigarettes by nearly a dollar per pack. It’s the kind of tax that people like; since only 17 percent or so of adults smoke, it’s largely happening to someone else.

Continue reading "OP-ED | Thinking Twice on Cigarette Tax Hike" »

Tags: Taxes, cigarettes, sin taxes, Susan Bigelow, dh

A coalition of health and anti smoking advocates called on the legislature Wednesday to increase state taxes on cigarettes by 95 cents a pack, citing a new poll that found broad support for the proposal among Connecticut voters.

Continue reading "Poll: Voters Support Raising Cigarette Tax" »

Tags: cigarettes, taxes, cancer, budget, smoking, sharkey, williams, poll, Hugh McQuaid, dh

Since the General Assembly approved Sunday alcohol sales last year, the state has been waiting to see if the experiment worked. On Thursday, Revenue Services Commissioner Kevin Sullivan proclaimed it had.

Continue reading "Did Sunday Sales Boost Revenues?" »

Tags: Kevin Sullivan, Carroll Hughes, liquor, sunday sales, alcohol, dh

Normally the fact that the state is running a $150.1 million surplus would be good news, but state Comptroller Kevin Lembo’s monthly budget report was dampened by consensus revenue figures that show a nearly $500 million shortfall over the next two years.

Continue reading "Budget Numbers Offer Mixed Bag" »

Tags: Kevin Lembo, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, Lawrence Cafero, John McKinney, budget, deficit, surplus

Budget analysts predicted that over the next two years revenue will drop more than $488 million, creating new challenges in negotiations over a state budget that doesn’t increase taxes.

Continue reading "Budget Analysts Predict $488M Drop In Revenue" »

Tags: Ben Barnes, Office of Fiscal Analysis, consensus revenue estimates, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, Lawrence Cafero, John McKinney, dh

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s budget director wrote lawmakers Thursday to tell them if there’s a budget surplus in this year’s budget then it will go into the Rainy Day Fund.

Continue reading "Malloy Administration Advocates Fiscal Constraint" »

Tags: Ben Barnes, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, John McKinney, Rainy Day Fund, GAAP

Gas taxes are going up again this July, and so once again I thought, briefly, about finding some other way to get around besides driving my car. I live and work smack in the middle of a busy, densely-populated valley stretching from Northampton to New Haven, so you would think that I would have several good transit options for getting to work. You’d be wrong.

Continue reading "OP-ED | Without Better Public Transit, Gas Tax is Simply Punitive" »

Tags: gas tax, Taxes, transit, buses, springfield, Enfield, car tax, Susan Bigelow, dh

A Massachusetts lawmaker filed legislation this week that would prohibit the Bay State from participating in regional energy purchasing agreements with Connecticut if the state decides to continue the electricity generation tax.

Continue reading "Mass. Lawmaker Takes A Stand Against CT Generation Tax" »

Tags: John Keenan, Massachusetts, generation tax, electricity, dh