Yesterday I attended a seminar on smart growth, touching on all of my favorite topics, economic development, roads and property tax reform. These were the topics that bubbled up from discussion panels more loftily declared to be about sustainable development for today’s and tomorrow’s citizens. What struck me most is that Connecticut is really choking under the property tax financing of infrastructure and education. All over the state.
State Senators Len Fasano-R and Jonathan Harris-D had some really interesting thing to say about the problems of regionalization in a state of 169 “fiefdoms.” The data, for the policy wonks amongst you, is in this CERC Executive summary here.
The big issue before all elected bodies in the next year will be addressing the financial impacts of a slowing economy nationwide, increased pressures of global competition, rising transportation costs and the beleaguered Connecticut tax payer.
