Last week, Gov. Dannel Malloy vetoed a bill passed by the legislature that would have created a nonprofit land bank that would acquire, remediate and redevelop contaminated brownfields.
House Bill 5425 could have particularly helped smaller communities lacking the resources to manage complex brownfields projects.
As nonprofits, the land banks would have also had access to grants that private developers do not, and could be eligible for local forgiveness of delinquent property taxes.
While Malloy wrote in his veto message that he supported the intent of the bill, he didn’t like that it sought to exempt notes or other obligations issued by the proposed land banks from any state taxation. Malloy said that could have led to a loss of millions of dollars in state revenue.
He also worried it might set a legal precedent that could lead to corporations arguing they shouldn’t be required to pay state corporate taxes.
Malloy urged the bill’s authors to revise the language for the 2017 legislation session.
