On May 7, 2024, the General Assembly passed H.B. 5523, a budget stabilization bill that appropriates funds for fiscal year 2025 and makes a number of different policy changes to K-12 education and other areas. Along with maintaining the $150 million in additional funding for K-12 education in FY 2025 that was allotted as part of the state budget passed last year, the bill overhauls how Connecticut distributes state education funding to school districts.
This report provides an overview of the basic features and structures found in property tax systems across the United States. Additionally, the report summarizes and analyzes the property tax systems of Connecticut and several of its regional peer states (Vermont, Massachusetts, Maryland, and Pennsylvania). Each state overview offers a summary of specific components of the respective state’s property tax system, including taxing authorities, property assessment, taxation rates, and tax exemptions and/or relief programs.
This policy briefing provides an overview of other post-employment benefits (OPEBs) that the State of Connecticut is responsible for paying, and summarizes recent changes in labor agreements that affect these benefits. OPEBs are the benefit packages, not including pensions, received by state or local employees upon retirement. In Connecticut, these benefits are defined as medical, prescription drug, and dental and life insurance.
This policy brief examines Connecticut statutes and legislation that relate to a school district's ability to pursue regionalization. The policy briefing summarizes methods of regional cooperation impacting public school districts in Connecticut, and details recent proposals to increase or incentivize regional cooperation.
In Connecticut, the cost per square foot for school construction, adjusted for inflation, increased 64 percent between 2000 and 2012. This report examines the costs, processes, and state funding associated with school construction in Connecticut and its peer states. The report also examines legislative changes made in 2017 to Connecticut's school construction grant program.
This report identifies key factors that contribute to the health of state employee pension systems, and uses these key factors to assess and compare the health of state employee pension systems in Connecticut with other peer states.