Leaders of Connecticut 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 East Granby, that plan would cost the town $1,394,537 annually,  according to figures drafted by the state's Office of Fiscal Analysis. First Selectman Jim Hayden has called the cut "potentially devastating."

In Granby, the town would lose about $2,566,186 million if the General Assembly accepts Malloy's proposal to eliminate the local tax on all cars valued at less than $28,500.

Malloy has offered the plan as tax relief for the middle class, arguing that the car tax doesn'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 Monday in a hearing before the legislature's Finance, Revenue, and Bonding Committee, would leave her community "no other option but to raise property taxes on business and homeowners,” Somers First Selectwoman Lisa Pellegrini told Ct News Junkie.