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05/19/2015 12:45 PMA proposed state budget that would raise state taxes by more than $2 billion in the next two years while reducing local property taxes by $1 billion and lowering the sales tax rate has sharpened the political divide in Hartford, a trend followed by North Haven’s legislators.
Senate Majority Leader Len Fasano (R) has countered with a Republican budget plan dubbed “Blueprint for Prosperity,” and State Representative Dave Yaccarino (R) has said the Democrats’ budget would be bad for local business. Meanwhile, State Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney (D) has defended the proposal, which could shift some of the tax burden from the state’s least to its most wealthy.
In North Haven, Yaccarino said the town is working hard to bring in new business, but a proposal like this would have a detrimental effect on jobs and various trades.
“We can’t afford anything that will further stifle our economy and drive out jobs,” Yaccarino said. “People and businesses are already moving out of the state in droves. A $2 billion tax hike will only further intensify this problem.”
Looney disagreed, pointing out the mitigating effects of the reductions in other taxes that affect middle-class residents.
“Overall the bill gives tax relief because the plan will impose a ceiling on the motor vehicle tax, which cuts your car tax bill each year,” Looney said, noting that the bill would reduce the overall state sales tax from 6.35 percent to 5.35 percent in 2017, and that a “designated half percent of that sales tax, approximately $300 million, will go for municipal assistance.”
Yaccarino said that the increase in taxes on numerous services would hurt constituents and businesses, and he’s hoping people will come to Hartford to speak out at public hearings.
“With nearly 30 new taxes proposed on trade businesses, the public deserves an opportunity to share their opinion,” he said.
Some additional tax services proposed would be an increase from one to 6.35 percent on services such as computer, accounting, and data processing services; architectural engineering, drafting, building inspection services, and interior and industrial design services; administrative management and general management consulting services; human resources consulting services and marketing consulting services; and management, scientific and technical consulting services and other technical services.
It would also include non-technical services like dry cleaning and laundry services (except coin-operated), veterinary services, translation and interpretation services, direct mail advertising, marketing research, and golf and country club services.
John Park, owner of Husky Cleaners on Washington Avenue, recently attended a meeting in Hartford to voice his concerns about this issue.
Park said, “It’s the same story; our consumers getting burdened again. They already pay taxes when they buy their clothes. The regular middle-class person now gets that burden again, and dry cleaning isn’t even a luxury service. Most people come in because they need to get a stain out that won’t come out, or moms with kids who get grass stains. These people can’t afford this.”
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