Dodd Talks About Towns With Lots of Tax-Exempt Properties
DODD
The New London Day
Renée Dudley
Boston University Washington News Service
25 January 2007
WASHINGTON, Jan. 25 – Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) said he does not have any legislation to aid cities like New London that are short on public funds because of a lot of tax-exempt property.
“It’s an issue we talk about all the time, but we still have no answers for it,” Dodd said in an interview after his speech to the U.S. Conference of Mayors on Wednesday night.
“New London gets hit hard because of the size of the community and the dominance of non-profits,” he said, citing the Coast Guard Academy, Connecticut College, and hospitals as examples.
“In New London, we’ve talked about this for as long as I’ve been in public life,” Dodd said. “It’s an issue that has never been fully resolved because both sides are afraid of the answer.”
Those favoring levying taxes on the exempt institutions worry that the courts will over-rule them, Dodd said. At the same time, he noted, those opposing such new taxes fear that they would be ruled allowed.
“Both sides stare at each other over this divide without really wanting to pursue the answer,” he said. “Instead of doing that let’s try to come up with a formula that allows you contribute to the extent you can to the community.”
But Dodd said that New London has great potential for economic growth and development because of its location and amenities.
“We may have Coast Guard museum coming in,” he said. “But you’ve got Pfizer coming in too now in an area that only had very little development a few years ago,” he said.
In his speech to the mayors, Dodd, who is the chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, outlined proposals ranging from promoting homeownership and increasing security on public transportation, to fighting predatory lending and expanding access to financial services.
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