“A car is a car is a car,” Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said Monday in defense of his proposal to eliminate 90 percent of municipal motor vehicle taxes.
Malloy proposed eliminating the tax on motor vehicles valued at $28,500 and under as part of his two-year budget proposal.
But big city mayors and small town first selectmen say the loss of $632.8 million in revenue will be devastating and will force them to shift the tax burden onto homeowners and businesses.
At a Capitol press conference Monday, Coventry Town Manager John Elsesser said his town is one of the top 10 most rural in the state and motor vehicle taxes make up 9.2 percent of its Grand List.
“It’s estimated if the governor’s proposal goes forward we’d lose $2.2 million in property tax revenue,” Elsesser said. “The revenue loss would be equal to a 25 percent reduction in the local government budget . . . that equates to eliminating the entire police and public works department.”
He said the argument is that municipalities need to be more efficient with the resources they have, but Elsesser has been in town for 25 years and over that time Coventry has 7.5 percent fewer employees, 10 more miles of road, and 3,000 additional citizens.
“I think we’re doing pretty well in efficiency,” Elsesser said.
But Malloy, the former mayor of Stamford for 14 years, has little sympathy for a tax that’s as regressive as the motor vehicle tax.
“It is one of the most egregious taxes on the books in the state of Connecticut,” Malloy said Monday after an unrelated event. “You own a car in Greenwich you’re charged less than 11 mills. you own a car in Hartford you’re charged 75 mills. It makes no sense.”
The Finance, Revenue, and Bonding Committee was holding a public hearing Monday on Malloy’s proposal to eliminate motor vehicle taxes on vehicles valued at under $28,500.
“It’s the most hated tax. It’s the most unfair tax. It’s the most middle class unfriendly tax we have,” Malloy said. “It’s time to do something about it. At least we’re having a discussion and I’m hopeful we’re going to do something about it.”
“Is there some shifting? The answer is yes,” Malloy admitted. But he believes middle-class families will come out ahead. He also believes his way of doing it is the best way.
“I think my reform is the best one and essentially does away with the tax for 90 percent of homeowners,” Malloy said.
However, James Finley, executive director and CEO of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, said he’s open to discussing the creation of a statewide motor vehicle tax rate.
He said to take away the municipal motor vehicle tax revenue all at once is a “cliff proposal” that will force municipalities to come up in two years with a way to close a $633 million revenue hole.
He said the big cities and suburbs his organization represents are willing to work with House Speaker Brendan Sharkey in coming up with a uniform mill rate for motor vehicle taxes that can be phased in over time.
According to the Office of Legislative Research, at least 18 states impose statewide motor vehicle taxes or fees based on a vehicle’s value, but only Kansas and Mississippi refer to the tax as a property tax.
However, not all municipalities agree that a statewide motor vehicle tax rate would solve the problem.
The Council of Small Towns panned the idea of a statewide tax rate, as did Lyme First Selectman Ralph Eno.
Eno citied the Planning and Development Committee’s bill to create a statewide motor vehicle tax rate and said “the fix is property tax abuse at its worst as far as I’m concerned.”
Eno said the legislation would create an average mill rate for motor vehicles statewide. Local tax collectors would collect the average as part of their levies, but towns with lower mill rates would send the extra money to the state, which would then redistribute it to the towns that have higher than average mill rates.
He said the towns paying into the state fund will have no say regarding its distribution, so when the state runs out of money in the future it just becomes another pot of money to raid to balance the budget.
Support authentic, locally owned and operated public service journalism!
The next time the state “gets a case of the ‘I can’t balance my budget blues,’ guess what’s going to happen to that dedicated pot of money?” Eno said. “It will be swept just like all the others.”
Lawmakers are looking to find the middle ground and offer their own solutions.
Rep. Patricia Widlitz, co-chairwoman of the Finance Committee, said Monday that she suspects the governor’s tax package “will look a little bit different after we’re done deliberating.”
More State Budget news

Lamont Signs Another 24 Bills Monday
Gov. Ned Lamont signed another 24 bills Monday, including one that changes what police have to do to inform a family after the death of a loved one, and one that increases funding for children’s mental health.
Keep reading
Stefanowski Talks Abortion, Employee Raises & Budget In First Press Conference
For a half-hour Wednesday, Bob Stefanowski stood outside the state Capitol and fielded questions on abortion rights and state employee raises in a sign the Republican candidate plans to run a more conventional campaign in this year’s rematch with Gov. Ned Lamont.
Keep reading
Lamont Signs The Budget
Alongside Democratic legislative leaders, Gov. Ned Lamont signed the $24 billion budget adjustment Monday that includes $600 million in tax relief. That’s more than they anticipated they would be able to offer Connecticut residents this Election year because revenue came in higher than expected, but it still creates about an $800 million deficit in 2024. …
Keep reading
ANALYSIS | It’s A Wrap: The Winners and Losers of the 2022 Session
It was a short legislative session, but the House and the Senate were able to move a lot of business this year, including the passage of a $24-billion budget with around $600 million in tax cuts.
Keep reading
Connecticut Acts To Help Its Lead-Poisoned Children
After decades of inertia, Connecticut is finally moving to help its thousands of lead-poisoned children and prevent thousands of other young children from being damaged by the widespread neurotoxin.
Keep reading
Bill Bolstering Contracting Oversight Board In Jeopardy After Lamont Administration Raises Concerns
It passed unanimously in the Senate, but a bill that would give the State Contracting Standards Board greater oversight over state contracting appeared stalled in the House Wednesday on the last day of session. “The governor and I have not talked about the bill,” House Speaker Matt Ritter said. “The commissioners have sent us a…
Keep reading
Senate Approves Tax Cuts, Sends $24B Budget to the Governor
The state Senate gave final approval late Tuesday to a $24 billion election year budget plan that includes around $600 million in tax relief while enabling the state to make an $3.5 billion payment on its unfunded pension debt. Senators voted 24-12 at around 10:30 p.m. to send the midterm budget adjustment to the desk…
Keep reading
House Green-Lights $24B Budget
On a party-line vote early Tuesday, the House passed a $24 billion budget adjustment package containing more than $600 million in tax cuts which Democrats heralded as “historic” and Republicans derided as temporary. Lawmakers voted 95 – 52 at around 12:20 a.m. to send the 673-page budget document to the Senate for consideration before the…
Keep reading
Budget Materials
The General Assembly is preparing to debate adjustments to the $24 billion state budget. Below are a few of the documents we’ve been provided as back-up materials. The budget, HB 5506. Town runs. Car tax impact on municipalities. Finance Committee Power Point.
Keep reading
Lawmakers May Vote for First Pay Increase in 20 Years
With legislative retirements mounting, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle were considering Monday raising the salaries of General Assembly members for the first time in more than two decades and indexing their pay in the future. During a morning press briefing, House Speaker Matt Ritter told reporters that funding for pay raises had been…
Keep reading
Amid Surging Revenue, House Prepares to Vote on Budget Adjustments
Connecticut’s House of Representatives was expected to vote Monday on a $24 billion budget adjustment package, buoyed by revised revenue predictions that exceeded expectations by more than $350 million. The revised consensus figures released Monday confirm the surge in revenues that enabled Gov. Ned Lamont and legislative Democrats to reach an agreement last week on…
Keep reading
Dems Detail Budget Deal With $500 Mil in Tax Cuts, Extension of Gas Tax Holiday
Legislative Democrats and Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration announced Wednesday the details of a $24.2 billion budget adjustment package, which they say provides around $500 million in tax relief including extending a gas tax holiday until December. Lamont and legislative leaders outlined the agreement during an afternoon press conference in the state Capitol building. Both chambers…
Keep reading
Health Care Workers Call for New Hires
After a record number of health care workers are expected to retire this year, health care staff called on Gov. Ned Lamont to commit to filling 1,000 vacant positions by August 1 of this year. A record 1,137 state workers who notified the state that they will retire this year comes at a moment of…
Keep reading
Senate Joins House And Votes To Give Raises, Bonuses To State Employees
The Senate gave final approval by a 22-13 vote on a plan to give unionized state workers a set of raises and bonuses. The plan, negotiated by Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration and a coalition of public sector labor unions, provides three years of 2.5% raises and step increases as well as a total of $3,500…
Keep reading
House Advances Labor Deal In Historic Vote
Lawmakers in Connecticut’s House of Representatives signed off on a plan to give state workers a set of raises and bonuses Thursday in a mostly partisan vote on a negotiated labor agreement. The House voted 96 to 52 in support of the deal with 1 Republican, Rep. Tom Delnicki of South Windsor, joining all Democrats…
Keep reading
Republicans Propose Last-Minute Tax Package
Legislative Republicans pitched a $1.2 billion tax relief plan Thursday which reduces state income, sales and gas taxes and proposes to join other states in suing the federal government to challenge restrictions on spending pandemic relief funds. House and Senate Republicans announced the plan during a state Capitol press conference Thursday morning. It cuts the…
Keep reading