Seen in the Courant:
Residential properties not occupied by the owners should be taxed at higher rates than owner-occupied dwellings, according to a recommendation by Hartford’s Property Tax Task Force.[...]
Under a 2006 revaluation, tax increases on properties not occupied by owners — whether multifamily homes, apartments or condos — are capped at 3.5 percent. But the task force’s plan would eliminate that cap and generate an additional $23 million in tax revenue by 2010, Wareing said.
In turn, the city’s commercial property tax owners would see a significant drop in their tax burden.
The task force was assembled when implementation on the most recent revaluation in the City of Hartford was halted after folks realized the property tax on businesses would double, due to the relative inflation in commercial property values versus residential values.
Considering that the last think that already-blighted Hartford needs is to drive the few remaining homeowners and businesses outside the city, I think it’s not a horrible idea.
The Courant article mentions the understandable fear that rents would rise on rental properties. The response given is that competition from rentals in surrounding towns would keep rental prices in check…which I can only partially buy.
The fact of the matter is given the limitations on how municipalities in Connecticut can raise revenue, someone’s going to feel pain. Thus, given the unlikeliness of additional flexibility being granted to Hartford, this idea seems to be the most reasonable of all the unreasonable solutions possible.