State Senate Republican Leader Louis C. DeLuca (R-Woodbury) voted in opposition to a Democrat proposal that would allow cities to increase property tax rates on businesses by up to 40%. The bill, which was passed on a near party line vote by majority Democrats, would provide property tax credits to homeowners in participating municipalities by shifting the property tax burden onto commercial properties, multi-family dwellings, and rental units. Senator DeLuca denounced the bill as being anti-business, anti-jobs, and bad for the economy.
"There is a growing attitude in the legislature that is anti-business, and I fear that Democrats in the legislature are starting to lapse into the same kinds of behavior that led to the economic troubles of the early 90's, when Connecticut lost over 150,000 jobs," said Senator DeLuca. "This bill goes back on the corporate tax and worker's compensation reforms we passed in the mid-90's that got our economy back on track. We should have learned then the importance of keeping businesses in the state, but now that we've recovered from our latest deficit, the Democrats in the legislature are going after business again."
Senator DeLuca also opposed the Democrat proposal on the grounds that it would require the state to divert more PILOT funds to cities that would lose revenue under the proposal, thus diminishing the pool of PILOT funds available for other communities in the state. Senator DeLuca pointed out that not only does the bill raise taxes on businesses, but it puts a further strain on the smaller Connecticut towns that are routinely shortchanged in favor of the cities.
"This bill, which might go down as the shell-game to end all shell games, will hurt the small manufacturing firms that have been shrinking for the past few years," said Senator DeLuca. "IBM has a facility in Southbury that employs 2500 people and there's no reason why they won't get up and move to their facility in Armonk, New York to avoid paying a 15 to 40% increase on their commercial property taxes. That's just one example; businesses can go anywhere and they won't stay in Connecticut if we chase them away."
"It is ironic that the same people who claim to be against outsourcing are the same people passing bills that give business yet another reason to outsource," said Senator DeLuca. "Someday these Democrats will understand that businesses create jobs. You can't be anti-business and pro-jobs." |
