As promised, a Hartford state senator has proposed expanding a tax experiment for commercial properties.
A 2014 law created a pilot program allowing a limited number of municipalities to tax a limited number of commercial properties based on their prior-year net income.
But no municipality has applied to test out the program, the Hartford Business Journal reported Monday. A national tax expert said he was unaware of any other profit-based property tax program in the country.
The Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee, co-chaired by Democratic Sen. John Fonfara, was expected to take public comment Friday on a bill that would lift the cap on the number of properties to which a municipality could apply the method.
The 2014 law capped the number of properties at three per municipality, with a maximum of five municipalities able to qualify for the program. The recently raised bill would keep the cap on the number of municipalities, but would lift the cap on the number of parcels.
Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin testified just after 11 a.m. Friday, saying that eliminating the cap “would give municipalities greater flexibility in using this economic development tool.”
He said Hartford needs such tools because of its high mill rate.
