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State comptroller seeks conversation on pension and property-tax reform; hears concerns about PILOT, regionalization and vacant taxable land
Summary
Connecticut State Comptroller Sean Scanlon visited the council to solicit input on municipal pension (CMERS) reform and broader property-tax and state-aid changes; attendees raised concerns about PILOT payments, nonresident tax ideas and constraints posed by land trusts and exempt institutions.
State Comptroller Sean Scanlon told the Northwest Hills Council of Governments he is convening conversations on municipal finance, including 2023–25 reforms to the CMERS municipal pension system and options to address pressure on property-tax-reliant towns.
Scanlon said municipal finance is a “common unifier” across state conversations and described his outreach to cogs, mayors and first selectmen for candid feedback. He identified three main topic buckets: the structure of municipal revenue (property tax reliance), sustainability of state aid (such as ECS and PILOT) and regionalization/shared services. He invited council members to contact him directly with ideas and suggested that some “singles” (incremental changes) may be more productive than seeking a single sweeping change.
Attendees raised multiple local concerns including the uneven distribution of PILOT payments, how revaluation timing can produce disproportionate spikes for towns, the county-government gap in Connecticut’s structure and barriers posed by large land trusts and nontaxable institutional land. Ideas discussed included local nonresident taxes (for weekend/second-home users), regional models for shared services and stronger checks on unfunded state mandates. Scanlon provided his phone and email for follow-up and asked the council to continue the conversation.
