An alternative to the property tax cap would be full funding of PILOT, payment-in-lieu-of-taxes, and other local state grants to town, in addition to a statewide initiative that guarantees no person pays more than a certain percentage of their income in property taxes, Stodder said.

When asked where he would get the revenue to fully fund PILOT payments and grants to towns, Stodder said a higher percentage of taxes should come from income.

But the Democrats, who claim to have a veto-proof majority, were unable to get a progressive income tax passed last year and no tax increases are scheduled this year, so it’s unlikely a proposal to change the income tax structure in the state will move forward over the next 12-weeks of the legislative session.

Stodder suggested another alternative to the property tax cap could be a guarantee no one would pay more than a percentage of their income in property taxes. Calling this idea, “circuit breakers” Stodder said Rhode Island and Vermont rebate property taxes in excess of 3 and 3.5 percent of a taxpayers income.

According to Stodder’s report the maximum property tax rebate Connecticut residents can receive is $1,250, a dollar figure that has not increased since 1998.
“Given how unequal Connecticut’s property is distributed, taxing even some small part of it at a flat rate would be remarkably ‘progressive’,” Stodder wrote in his report. However, “Capping property taxes merely puts a band-aid over a wound that is already badly-infected-and wholly self-inflicted,” Stodder concluded.

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