Over the weekend Don Pesci posted an interesting essay on the challenge of property tax reform.
The entire piece is worth a read, I think. One of the theses of the piece is that tax reform as it is being discussed doesn’t address a core problem in the state - the lack of fiscal discipline. He cites recent town tax referenda (e.g., Windsor’s requiring 3 attempts to get a budget passed this year) as evidence of citizens opposing tax bills growing faster than household budgets. Plus:
Our state budget has doubled within the terms of two and a half governors because there is no state budget referendum. Now, I’m going to go out on a limb here and make a wild guess. My guess is that property tax reformers know this. They know that by moving a portion of payments from municipal to state government, they are avoiding unpleasant confrontations and referendums. It has become wearisome for mayors to hear from their constituents words such as these: We can’t afford your tax increases in our own budgets; you are literally driving us from our homes.
I’m not sure I’d go quite so far out on that limb, but it is an interesting.and sadly, too-believable.idea, particularly in light of discussions recently in Windsor to tweak the town guidelines on the political makeup of the town council, as well as a proposal that was discussed of granting the council the authority to pass a budget, rather than requiring a referendum.