The State of Sprawl:  Report Documents the Impacts of Connecticut’s Development and Tax Policies

“The way the state is growing is hurting all communities – from the most impoverished to the most affluent,” concludes a report released in March 2003, commissioned by the Office of Urban Affairs of the Archdiocese of Hartford and its CenterEdge Coalition.

“Connecticut Metropatterns:  A Regional Agenda for Community and Prosperity in Connecticut” was prepared by Myron Orfield, president of the research and geographical information system firm Ameregis.

Report author Mr. Orfield, national expert in land use and tax policies, spoke in Canton on Oct. 3 at a C.A.R.E.-sponsored Smart Growth forum. A video of his talk is available at the Canton Public Library.

The report details the harmful impacts that the state’s current development and tax structures have on social separation, sprawl, housing affordability, poverty, school segregation, the environment, school financing, and fiscal inequities among municipalities.

 Among the key findings:

--Simple contrasts between cities, suburbs and rural areas are out of date
--All types of communities are hurt by the way the state is growing
--All places would benefit from regional and statewide reforms
--Reform is politically possible                

The report recommends state level tax reforms that have worked in other states, particularly equity based reforms that can:

-- Reduce dependence on local property taxes
-- Reduce inequalities in tax rates and services
-- Reduce competition for tax base
-- Encourage joint economic development efforts
-- Complement regional or statewide land-use planning

The report also urges the state to follow Smart Growth policies including:

-- Reinvesting in existing areas
-- Developing in areas that can support it
-- Protecting open space    
-- Reducing barriers to affordable housing
-- Practicing regional cooperative planning

The report is the culmination of the Archdiocese’s CenterEdge Coalition Project. The Coalition’s purpose is to educate as many people as possible about disparities created by Connecticut’s long-term pattern of development, and to give people who live in very different settings the chance to discover shared problems and common self-interests. Bishop Peter Rosazza is chairman of the Coalition.

The Coalition’s 50-plus members include religious, environmental, business, civil rights, educational, government and civic-minded groups, as well as those with a focus on housing and social services. Members include such diverse groups as C.A.R.E., Capitol Region Council of Governments, the Regional Growth Partnership of New Haven, St. Francis Hospital, the Sierra Club and the Connecticut AFL-CIO.

C.A.R.E. President Jane Latus was invited by the Archdiocese to speak at the press conference at which the study was released to the media. Ms. Latus said “Canton exemplifies one of the developing communities as described in the report – towns suffering from the effects of rapid residential growth and the increasing difficulty in raising sufficient taxes.

In Canton, a town survey found that what an overwhelming majority of residents love most about their town are its natural resources and small town atmosphere, and that what they most dislike are the high tax rate and rate of development. The things they love are being destroyed by the things they hate. This is an avoidable shame. Substantive statewide tax reform would both protect what people value and alleviate what they dislike.”

The “Connecticut Metropatterns” report is available online at  http://www.oua-adh.org/4.8_CONNECTICUT.PDF