HARTFORD — Taxes could soon be on the rise if a new house bill passes.
House bill 7322 seeks to increase the sales tax up to 6.99 percent from its current rate of 6.35 percent and increase the income tax for some state residents.
Other aspects of the bill would help towns generate more money by increasing state owned property payments. Properties like colleges and hospitals owned by the state would see an increase of their payments to their towns by roughly 23 percent. If the bill passes, regional governments would be responsible for creating plans to help pay for that.
Another aspect of the bill proposes increasing the income tax on the upper class. This would impact those making more than $500,000 annually. Currently, those people are taxed at a rate of 6.99 percent, but that number would go up to 7.49 percent if the bill passes. 7.49 percent would be the highest income tax rate since the tax was first introduced more than 25 years ago.
Cities would also be allowed to tax properties at 100 percent of their value, versus the current rate of 70 percent, which means property taxes would increase dramatically.
Lawmakers will convene for a hearing on this new bill on Tuesday.
