SUPPORT

Submitted to the Select Committee on Veterans Affairs

February 25, 2010

By
Robert Kimball

Good morning. I want to thank the CoChairs and members of this Select Committee for their interest in Senate Bill 209 and for this opportunity for public comment as well.

My name is Robert Kimball. While I speak for the Connecticut Association of Realtors, as a member of its Executive committee, my personal view is enhanced from long experience working in the eastern part of the State, home to the US Submarine Base and the US Coast Guard Academy. I hasten to add that the bill has far wider geographical impact since so many Connecticut citizens - - from towns all across the state - - are now mobilized as members of the National Guard and Reserves.

Simply put, Senate Bill 209 makes a bad tax less harmful. The real estate conveyance tax is widely recognized as regressive and extremely unstable as a revenue source. Connecticut did quite well without it for most of our history, that is, until 1983. Since then lawmakers increased its rates, added layer upon layer of variations, and expanded its reach .

Senate Bill 209 is a chance to change history by halting this pattern and telling some of our most valued citizens - - men and women serving in the US Armed Forces and Coast Guard - - that Connecticut will not penalize them with taxes on their homes when they are forced to move.

Real life examples abound on the hardships imposed on military families living in Connecticut. From the Army family in Meriden selling their home at a loss when ordered to Chicago, and forking over three conveyance taxes plus a "distressed cities" tax, to a Navy man who was pummeled when he sold his Groton home when assigned to Baltimore. Some of the best examples, however,

are attached to my testimony. They come from the wife of an active duty Coast Guard member, Lora Merrill of Woodstock. Besides knowing first-hand the trials and tribulations of being married to someone in service to his country, Lora is a Realtor who has seen the hardships endured by many Navy families ordered to move and who are "still paying the debt they incurred in Connecticut for being part of our community."

Three minutes goes fast so I'll hold-off until the question period to illustrate one or two of Lora's most flagrant examples, if you wish.

Let me emphasize that this group of homesellers is a very narrow portion of the home selling population in our State. The most vulnerable of the vulnerable - -the widows and widowers of "fallen warriors" - is even more miniscule. Yet, if you make this small adjustment in such a regressive and punitive tax, it will speak volumes as to Connecticut's sense of fairness and commitment to our US Armed Forces and their families.

I urge you to vote to give this bill a speedy favorable report to the floor of the Senate.

Are there any questions about my remarks or the illustrations provided by Lora?