Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | APRIL 15, 2024 7 POLITICS & POLICY GENERAL CONTRACTING • CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT • DESIGN BUILD PARTNER 21 DEMING ROAD, BERLIN, CT 06037 • (860) 610-1093 • WWW.OLSENCS.COM NEW CONSTRUCTION • TENANT FIT OUT • CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE • HEALTHCARE Gotta's Farm in Portland has sold healthy produce at the North End Senior Center in Hartford. PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED Farmer tax credit proposal gains bipartisan support A bill that would allow Connecticut farmers to receive tax credits for certain expenses has received bipartisan support in a key legislative committee and is now moving to the full General Assembly for debate and a possible vote. House Bill 5492, which was introduced and approved by the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee, would establish a new 20% property tax credit for certain farm-related capital expenses, and also increase the maximum property tax exemption threshold — from $100,000 to $200,000 — a municipality may approve for certain farm-related properties. The proposal comes as Connecticut farmers continue to face financial challenges from higher costs and shrinking profit margins. Since 2012, Connecticut has lost nearly 8% of its farms and 13% of its farmland, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data. A plethora of farmers submitted testimony in favor of the bill, saying it would help farms of all sizes stay in business and continue to operate in Connecticut. "Unfortunately, the cost to construct and maintain farm buildings has increased over the years just like most other expenses, and the cost of farm machinery has increased at an even higher percentage," said Paul Larson, co-owner of Sprucedale Gardens Nursery and Greenhouse and president of the Connecticut Farm Bureau Associ- ation. "The allowable limit for these exemptions from local property tax was set many years ago and as you can imagine, these amounts are overdue for an adjustment to reflect the current values. This bill would raise these allowable exemption values and would be a very welcome benefit to the farmers in our state." However, both the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities (CCM) and Connecticut Council of Small Towns pushed back on the proposal, calling it another unfunded mandate for towns and cities. "Towns and cities remain almost exclusively reliant on the imposition of a regressive property tax system to fund all levels of local service, and these proposals would further increase property tax rates that already subsidize the current 100 mandated property exemptions," said Randy Collins, CCM's associate director of public policy. "Addi- tional exemptions to the property tax further shift the burden of paying for local education and services to other taxpayers." — Skyler Frazer | HBJ Finance committee approves bill to limit credit card interchange fees A proposal that would change how fees for electronic sales are calculated received support from Connecticut restaurant owners but pushback from credit union and payment industry groups as it heads to the state House of Representatives for more discussion. House Bill 5489, which was intro- duced and approved by the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee, would prohibit payment card networks from including sales and use taxes in interchange fees charged to merchants that accept credit cards. The bill would essentially require credit card companies to either exclude taxes from their interchange fee calculations, or reimburse busi- nesses for the same amount if they aren't excluded during fee payments. The Connecticut Restaurant Association said that including taxes when calculating interchange fees unnecessarily inflates the costs to small businesses. The association said restaurants in the state are being charged 2% to 4% in interchange fees, while credit card use continues to increase. Both the Credit Union League of Connecticut and Electronic Transac- tions Association spoke out against the bill, arguing the proposal would force merchants to overhaul their payment systems. They also said that interchange fees are important because they help pay for investment in secure-payments technology. The bill has been sent to the state House of Representatives for further discussion and a possible vote. — Skyler Frazer | HBJ

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