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20 Hartford Business Journal • February 10, 2020 • www.HartfordBusiness.com By Greg Bordonaro & Matt Pilon gbordonaro@hartfordbusiness.com; mpilon@hartfordbusiness.com W ith the 2020 legislative ses- sion officially underway, state lawmakers will need to tackle Connecticut's fiscal and economic challenges. But some legislators are also struggling to get their own fiscal house in order. Eight members of the General As- sembly are among tens of thousands of individuals and businesses who were at least 90 days delinquent in paying their state taxes through Jan. 4, a Hartford Business Journal computer analysis of tax records has found. Lawmakers on the delinquency list include a chief deputy major- ity leader, chief majority whip, and assistant majority leader. Several legislators who owe taxes said they are aware of their debts and are on a payment plan with the Department of Revenue Services (DRS) due to fi- nancial hardships. Other lawmakers said they were unaware they were on the delinquency list and repaid their taxes, or said they would, after being contacted by HBJ. State lawmakers listed on the delinquent taxpayer rolls owed a col- lective $37,227.40, which is more than a legislator's annual base salary. That debt represents a tiny fraction of the $680 million in overdue taxes the state tallied at the end of 2019, the majority of which was 90 days delin- quent or more, according to DRS. Approximately 46% of those back taxes are owed by individuals, while 54% are owed by businesses, DRS said. Through a Freedom of Informa- tion request, the Hartford Business Journal obtained a database con- taining the names of individuals and businesses delinquent in paying their taxes by 90 days or more. The database contains around 354,486 separate entries; some names and companies were listed multiple times because they have more than one tax liability, according to DRS. HBJ identified lawmakers by matching the DRS database to a list containing the names and addresses of all 187 state senators and repre- sentatives. HBJ's computer analysis concentrated on those elected officials as well as members of the executive branch. No executive branch leaders were found on the delinquency list, according to HBJ's analysis. The debtors Among the delinquent taxpay- ers is state Rep. Andre Baker Jr., a Democrat from Bridgeport who owes $30,586.18. Baker, who sits on the Appropria- tions Committee, said he is aware of the debt and is on a payment plan to get caught up on his liabilities. He said the delinquency stems from his ownership of two funeral homes in Bridgeport and Norwalk. He's the sole proprietor of both, which means he reports profits as personal income. A few years ago, he said he closed for renovations his Norwalk funeral home for more than a year, which caused him to lose out on certain de- ductions — like depreciation — that he depended on in the past, leading to higher-than-expected tax bills. "It kind of clobbered me," he said. Baker said he paid $18,000 in taxes last year and hopes to pay the rest off by the end of this year. "I've done some accelerated pay- ments," he said. "That's the beauty of it all. You owe but they are willing to work with you and I've been paying consistently." Other lawmakers who owed taxes as of Jan. 4, and said they were on payment plans included Rep. John K. Hampton (D-Simsbury) and Rep. Liz Linehan (D-Cheshire). Hampton, an assistant majority leader who owes $3,170.80 in taxes, said he lost his job a few years ago working at the nonprofit Brain In- jury Alliance of Connecticut, which caused financial hardship. In addi- tion to his lawmaker job, he said he is currently doing consulting work and substitute teaching and hopes to have his debts paid off over the next six months. "Sorry to have fallen behind but losing a job is tough for people," he said. "I'm no different from other people. I take the responsibility seri- ously just like every other taxpayer." Linehan said she and her husband are about to complete the final in- stallment on their one-year payment plan, which as of early January had a remaining balance of $142.31. She said she's glad payment plans are available to taxpayers, particu- larly a middle-class family like hers. "I'm a legislator that is very aware of the squeeze on the middle class," Delinquent taxpayers These state lawmakers were at least 90 days late in paying their state taxes as of Jan. 4, 2020. Lawmaker Party Amount Owed Rep. Andre Baker Jr. Democrat (Bridgeport) $30,586.17 Rep. John K. Hampton Democrat (Simsbury) $3,170.80 Sen. Gary A. Winfield Democrat (New Haven) $1,895.97 Rep. Noreen Kokoruda Republican (Madison) $620.65 Rep. David Michel Democrat (Stamford) $431.39 Rep. Christopher Rosario Democrat (Bridgeport) $363.02 Rep. Liz Linehan Democrat (Cheshire) $142.31 Rep. Stephen G. Harding Republican (Brookfield) $17.09 Total owed $37,227.40 Source: HBJ analysis of Department of Revenue Services tax records Rep. Christopher Rosario Rep. Andre Baker Jr. Rep. Stephen G. Harding Rep. Liz Linehan Rep. John K. Hampton Rep. David Michel Rep. Noreen Kokoruda Sen. Gary A. Winfield Debt Woes CT state lawmakers among delinquent taxpayers PHOTO | HBJ FILE