4 minute read
Letter From The Executive Director & CEO
Why Education Funding in Connecticut Is Central to Economic Stability
Connecticut is often praised for its affluence, natural beauty, and rich history. But behind the postcard image lies a harsh economic reality: property taxes in our state are crushing families and stagnating economic growth. This burden is not just unsustainable—it’s economically disastrous.
The driving force behind CCM launching the “Do The Math” campaign is to highlight the financial challenges faced by Connecticut’s towns and cities due to insufficient state funding for education. The campaign emphasizes that the state’s budget proposals are the leading factor to increased personal property taxes and, in many instances, reduced public services unless state funding disparities are addressed.
A Tax That Punishes the Middle and Working Class
Connecticut residents face some of the highest property taxes in the nation. For many homeowners—especially in middle- and lower-income communities—property taxes consume a disproportionate share of their income. Unlike income taxes, which scale with earnings, property taxes are fixed based on property value, not a homeowner’s ability to pay.
This system punishes stability. Owning a home, once a cornerstone of the American Dream, has become a financial liability in Connecticut. Families are forced to choose between staying in the communities they love or fleeing to states with fairer tax structures.
Economic Growth Suffocated at the Local Level
Behind the headlines about tech booms and online retail successes lies a quiet casualty: the small, independent business. These aren’t just stores, they’re cornerstones of our communities. Small businesses often become unintended victims of both online distributors and economic policies at the state level. High property taxes not only reduce consumer spending power, but small, brickand-mortar businesses struggle to compete—unable to match the prices or scale of the larger online competitors. If left unchecked, we’ll be left with hollowed-out main streets and communities without character.
The sad, but necessary, truth is local governments are forced to rely heavily on business and residential property taxes to fund basic services residents expect: education, police, fire departments, and public works to name a few. In fact, over 70% of municipal revenue in Connecticut comes from property taxes. This overreliance creates a perverse economic cycle: in order to maintain essential services, towns must continue raising taxes, even as residents and businesses struggle to pay them.
The Wealth Gap Widens
Property taxes exacerbate inequality across towns and cities. Wealthier municipalities with higher-value real estate collect more revenue, offering better schools and amenities without overburdening residents. Poorer towns must raise rates to provide the same level of services, putting them at a competitive disadvantage and further entrenching cycles of poverty.
This uneven playing field means where you live in Connecticut often significantly determines the quality of your child’s education, your access to necessary and life-sustaining public services, and your long-term financial security.
A Broken System in Desperate Need of Reform
State leadership has long known the system is broken. The “Do The Math” campaign has laid bare the underfunding of education, special education, and essential programs—failures that force towns to unfairly hike property taxes to fill the hole.
It doesn’t have to be this way. We need a serious conversation at every level about how the state funds local government. That includes fully funding the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) formula, modernizing the PILOT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes) program to compensate towns for untaxed state and nonprofit properties and— dare I mention—exploring regional revenue sharing and alternative tax models.
The Stakes Are High and The Consequences Are Serious
Connecticut is at a crossroads. Continue down this path and we risk becoming a state that only the wealthy can afford to call home and student education inequalities further widen. Reverse course, and we can ease the burden on working families, invigorate our economy, restore faith in our communities and ensure the educational system promotes a fair and balanced opportunity for successful outcomes for all students.
Fighting for increased educational funding and property tax reform isn’t about politics—it’s about survival. It’s about building a Connecticut where every student and every resident, regardless of income or ZIP code, has a fair shot at a stable and prosperous future.
