Date: Fri 07-May-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: CURT

Quick Words:

state-surplus-edink

Full Text:

ED INK: Carving Up The Surplus

The state comptroller projected this week that the state will end the fiscal

year with a surplus of $493 million. About 20 percent of that surplus, $100

million, had been earmarked as a down payment on the new stadium for the New

England Patriots, but now that the deal with Patriots owner Robert K. Kraft

has fallen through, the governor and legislators are casting hungry looks at

this large piece of the pie. Notwithstanding all the reminders we get from

Hartford of how tight it is with our tax dollars, these days the state

government seems to be engorged with money -- our money.

The extra money lying around in the wake of the state's failed Patriots gambit

will probably ensure that the governor will get to reprise last year's tax

rebates of up to $150 per taxpayer. Until now, the legislature has resisted

his $80 million rebate plan, preferring instead to increase aid to

municipalities. But now it seems both the legislature and the governor will

get to toss goodies back to their favored constituencies the way candy gets

tossed to kids in Newtown's Labor Day parade.

As much as we like to get showered with favors from the state, we are a little

troubled by what is becoming an annual display of largess involving surplus

funds. The bottom line is that Connecticut is overtaxing its citizens. Last

year's election-year surplus was $600 million, and this year each surplus

projection, propelled by the robust economy, drifts closer to that mark. The

income tax alone is generating $430 million more than originally projected.

Ironically, Governor Rowland was first elected on a vow to eliminate the

income tax. Now it has become his favorite reservoir for building political

capital through tax rebates. The Democratic legislature isn't much better; it

builds political capital by returning money to cities and towns (mostly

cities, because that's where the votes are). But most of the surplus never

makes it back to the taxpayers. The $100 million from the failed Patriots deal

could vanish as quickly as it appeared this week; demands are already being

made for more aid to hospitals and schools and for funds to fix Y2K-related

problems.

If lawmakers want to spend more money on aid to cities, or education, or

health care, then the expenditures should be planned in advance and put in the

budget, not skimmed off the surplus. The debate in Hartford on how to spend

this year's surplus should include some discussion on how to cut next year's

surplus in half. A reduction in the income tax, the sales tax, or even the

corporation tax should be given serious consideration. We are getting tired of

watching the governor and the legislature carving up tax revenues they should

never have collected in the first place.