Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy submitted his budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year on Wednesday, which includes a plan to allow municipalities to levy a property tax on nonprofit hospitals.
The budget plan, which aims to close a nearly $1.7 billion deficit in the upcoming fiscal year, would allow cities and towns to levy property taxes on any real estate owned by nonprofit hospitals, according to The Connecticut Mirror.
To offset the new tax, Gov. Malloy's budget proposal calls for $250 million in supplemental Medicaid funds for hospitals.
Nonprofit hospitals and health systems, including Yale New Haven (Conn.) Health System, criticized the governor's proposal.
"The Yale New Haven Health System already pays more than $200 million in taxes to the State of Connecticut, making us the state's single largest taxpayer — and we are a nonprofit health care provider," Vin Petrini, senior vice president of public affairs at Yale New Haven Health, told The Connecticut Mirror. "Levying property taxes on nonprofit hospitals is a dangerous precedent that we cannot support."
The Connecticut Hospital Association has vowed to fight any attempt to collect property taxes from nonprofit hospitals, according to the report.
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