Hartford Business Journal

34 Hartford Business Journal | February 8, 2021 | HartfordBusiness.com internet gaming "to out-of-state markets or even worse, underground markets." He called for legalizing sports betting in 2018 during his campaign and before the previous two legislative sessions. New Jersey, New York, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island have already legalized sports EDITOR'S TAKE BIZ BOOKS Statewide property tax misguided Tips for developing your company's talent C onnecticut's red hot housing market ended 2020 on a high note. In December alone, Greater Hartford home sales were up 51%, while home prices increased 16%, according to the Greater Hartford Association of Realtors. For all of 2020, sales volume was up 13.7% (7,548 homes traded hands) and the median sales price rose 10.2%, to $270,000. The housing market has been a surprising bright spot in what's been a tough last year. Up until 2020, Connecticut housing prices, along with the overall state economy, struggled for more than a decade to recover from the Great Recession, so to see a resurgence during one of the worst economic periods in recent memory was refreshing. And homebuying has a ripple effect throughout the economy — as people purchase and make improvements to their new homes they enlist the help of builders, remodelers, tradesmen and others. Will it last? I think the housing market will continue to be active for the first-half of 2021, but may cool off after that. One thing that would slow the momentum is a proposed statewide tax on residential and commercial properties. At a time when Gov. Ned Lamont has said he has no interest in raising taxes, this state legislative proposal sends the wrong message, and would hurt the economy. Frankly, I don't think the bill has much of a chance to pass. It was proposed by Senate President Pro Tem Martin Looney, a progressive Democrat from New Haven who has championed many tax increases during his nearly three-decade career in the legislature. According to the CT Mirror, Looney's proposal would add one mill — or $1 for every $1,000 of assessed value — on residential and commercial properties, but exempt the first $300,000 of assessed value. That means the higher tax would only kick in on houses or commercial buildings that have market values starting at around $430,000. Some are calling it a mansion tax, but that's a mischaracterization. It's a tax that would impact many middle class households and small businesses. Connecticut already has one of the highest property tax burdens in the country so adding to that pain in the middle of a recession makes little sense, especially as the state's budget outlook keeps improving. The proposal also fails to consider that many Connecticut homeowners already face the prospects of higher property taxes with the overall M anagement metrics geared to what's in the job description deal with accomplishing today's priorities. The long-term priority that's rarely measured: talent development. Too often, managers don't think of employees as intellectual capital. The organization loses its competitive edge when employees stop learning. To foster learning, the best managers play to the strengths of individuals and provide them with challenging learning experiences. They use "yes, and …" rather than "yes, but …" to encourage new ideas. They value contributions. When there are missteps, they talk about what was learned and how to apply that knowledge on "what's next." They recognize when an employee's learning curve has peaked and work "to identify opportunities that she/ he might be interested in pursuing." They ask about personal goals and the types of challenges that provide motivation. The result: A "together" commitment to making a new learning curve happen. Forward-thinking managers start the talent-development process with the job posting. "Make it clear in the job posting why this role really matters." This attracts by identifying an initial learning curve for them. Johnson cautions against hiring clones. Hiring for what you don't have helps the team by adding the potential for new learning. When it comes to interviewing, reinforce the learning opportunity. Ask about their view of change, which speaks to both adaptability and innovation. Invite questions to see if they've done their homework on the company and their prospective role, too. Also, probe for the soft skills needed to work well with the team. Development plans must be flexible, too. As individual performance dictates and organizational needs change, learning-curve opportunities change, too. Takeaway: Employees' engagement increases when they're learning new things and developing new competencies. upswing in home values and the hit many municipal budgets have taken during the pandemic. Looney's intentions are noble — he wants to raise new revenue so lawmakers can send tens of millions of additional dollars to poorer cities and towns. But this proposal only underscores the disconnect many lawmakers in Hartford have with how their proposals can negatively impact the economy. For example, there is evidence, including from a 2018 study published in the Journal of Finance and Accountancy, that high property tax rates negatively impact home values — specifically the rate at which homes appreciate. So, while the tax may raise new revenue short term, it could help stunt home-value growth long term, which would negatively impact property tax revenues that cities and towns rely on. It also gives people — and companies — an added incentive to look at lower-cost destinations, at a time when Connecticut needs to be showcasing itself to New York City and Boston residents itching for a more suburban lifestyle. During the Connecticut Business & Industry Association's recent virtual economic summit, Lamont pointed out that the various tax increases that have been passed in the state over the last two decades — by Republicans and Democrats alike — have not helped solve Connecticut's budget issues. He's right, and in aggregate they've only exacerbated our state's problems by making Connecticut less competitive. State lawmakers must begin to understand that raising taxes to solve short-term budget issues will only create longer-term problems. Opinion & Commentary Greg Bordonaro By Jim Pawlak OTHER VOICES CT should legalize sports betting this year Christopher DeMatteo "Build an A Team: Play to Their Strengths and Lead Them Up the Learning Curve" by Whitney Johnson (Harvard Business Review Press, $28). By Christopher DeMatteo I n 2019, the first full year of legalized sports betting since the Supreme Court invalidated a federal law that prohibited its legalization, approximately $13 billion was wagered in 11 states. That is still just a fraction of the total amount wagered, most of which is still done illegally, through offshore sportsbooks and bookies, estimated to be $150 billion by the American Gaming Association. While it is difficult to quantify the amount of money wagered on sports in Connecticut, it is easy to calculate the tax revenue the state receives on it: $0. The legislature can and should fix that problem this session by legalizing in-person and online sports wagering With two major tribal casinos, off-track betting and a state lottery, sports betting isn't illegal in Connecticut because of our Puritan history or concerns about gambling addiction. Rather, it is part legislative intransigence and complexities — or at least confusion — surrounding the gaming compacts with the Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot tribes and pressure from the tribes themselves. Gov. Lamont said in this year's State of the State address that we should not surrender legalized marijuana, sports betting and Continued on page 35

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