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Connecticut taxpayers can hope their next bill won’t get any bigger. They’d also like to hear the governor say it won’t. 

Asked on WPLR’s Chaz and AJ show on Aug. 10 whether a third term would bring tax increases, new fines or new fees, Gov. Ned Lamont answered, “I sure as hell hope not.” He pointed to income-tax reductions, a surplus and debt payments before adding, “I don’t see any need to raise any taxes.” 

Good. But leaving taxes alone should be the minimum taxpayers can expect. Connecticut should also be looking for charges it can reduce or eliminate. A tax or fee shouldn’t stay on the books simply because the state has grown accustomed to collecting it. 

Yankee Institute’s updated “Sources of Revenue” flyer gives Hartford plenty to review, laying out Connecticut’s gargantuan list of taxes, fees and other sources of revenue. Its review of the state’s fiscal year 2025 General Fund and Special Transportation Fund (STF) revenue reports identified 370 revenue source line items: 56 taxes, 211 fees, 15 fines or penalties, 16 federal grants and 72 other revenue items. 

Together, those revenue sources brought in approximately $30.4 billion. Some came from federal transfers, investment income and gaming revenue. But Hartford also collected millions from people who needed permission to drive, work or run a business. 

Income-tax relief is welcome, but Connecticut still collected nearly $13 billion in personal income taxes before refunds in fiscal 2025. Employers withheld $9.15 billion from workers’ paychecks and sent it to the state. Another $3.81 billion came from estimated payments—generally made during the year on income without sufficient withholding—and final payments of tax still owed when people filed their returns. 

Getting to work alone gives the state several chances to collect. Connecticut took in $362.9 million in gasoline taxes, $47.8 million in driver’s license fees and $18.6 million in vehicle title fees in FY25. Before drivers earn a dollar at work, they have already encountered several ways to pay Hartford. 

Businesses get their own bills. Connecticut collected $1.4 billion through its corporation tax, which generally taxes corporate profits. Another $2.37 billion came from estimated and final payments of the pass-through entity tax. That tax applies to income earned by businesses such as partnerships and S corporations, whose profits generally pass through to their owners for income-tax purposes. Those three entries alone brought in nearly $3.8 billion. 

Working comes with its own bill from Hartford. The flyer lists $49.7 million across 32 trade and professional licensing fee entries. Hypnotists paid $14,200 in registration fees. Even mind control comes with a bill from Hartford. 

Transferring wealth gives Hartford another opportunity to collect. Gift and estate taxes brought in $146.1 million in fiscal 2025. The estate tax applies to wealth transferred at death, while the gift tax covers certain transfers during a person’s lifetime. Connecticut is the only state with a stand-alone gift tax. 

Lamont himself proposed repealing the gift tax in 2019. Seven years later, it remains on the books. Revisiting that proposal would be one place to start. 

Some charges have a reasonable purpose. Processing an application, administering an examination or providing a particular service costs money. A fee can assign that expense to the person using the service rather than taxpayers generally. Fines can enforce legitimate rules. 

But if a fee costs more to collect than it brings in, taxpayers end up subsidizing the paperwork. Hartford should determine whether scrapping the charge would save more in collection costs than the state would lose in revenue. 

Connecticut’s dry-cleaning tax brought in just $37,573 in FY25. That won’t keep the state budget afloat. It should, however, cause lawmakers to ask how much work goes into collecting it and whether it earns enough to keep. 

Fees and fines account for $2.45 of every $100 in the revenue analyzed. Of the 370 revenue line items, 208 brought in less than $1 million each. That is more than half the entries in the analysis. Not all are taxes or fees, but the smaller charges deserve a closer look. How much does the state spend processing payments, tracking renewals and enforcing compliance? How much time do residents and businesses spend filling out the forms? 

The flyer cannot answer those questions because it documents revenue, not administrative costs. Lawmakers can get the answers from the agencies collecting the money. They should ask what each charge pays for, what it costs to administer and whether related fees could be consolidated. Where a requirement has outlived its usefulness, both the paperwork and the charge should go. 

Those are the bills taxpayers “sure as hell hope” won’t get bigger. Lamont has more than hope at his disposal: He proposes the budget and can veto legislation that raises taxes or adds fees. If he sees no need to raise taxes, taxpayers deserve to know whether he’ll reject those proposals when they reach his desk. 

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