Maggie's Farm

At City Journal, Connecticut on the Brink

 Conservative fiscal policy, coupled with the missteps of rival states, helped bolster the Connecticut economy throughout the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. New York State’s top income-tax rate surged into the double-digits around 1960, and an extra city-level tax was imposed in 1966. New York’s combined top state and city gross income-tax rate reached a peak of 19.7 percent in 1976. By contrast, Connecticut’s gross income-tax rate was zero, and would remain so until the early 1990s. During New York’s fiscal crisis, debates about the city’s future often invoked fears of residents and businesses fleeing to Connecticut, where taxes were lower and services widely considered superior.

This lovely Yankee state, "The Land of Steady Habits," is broke. It is still a wealthy state, thanks to Fairfield County's proximity to NYC, but the rest of the state is on a downhill slope. The prosperous cities are a distant memory. The government is now mainly ruled by the unions which drove manufacturing away. Currently, the tax structure is driving wealthy residents away. Six months + one day gets you Florida residency, so you can summer in CT with your friends.