New London - The two party-endorsed candidates for mayor are sparring over tax abatement proposals that each says can save residents money and improve property values.

Republican mayoral candidate, City Councilor Rob Pero, announced Thursday that if he is elected, he will propose a proactive and expanded homeowner tax abatement improvement program.

It would target blighted areas of the city to encourage improvements and maintain properties. It would provide abatements over a five-year period based on an investment of $5,000.

Pero said he proposed his plan as an alternative to the land value tax that he said his Democratic opponent, Daryl Justin Finizio, is pushing.

The land value tax-reform program focuses real estate values on land rather than buildings. With the taxes on the value of the land, property owners who improve their buildings do not have to pay more taxes.

Supporters think the system would help reduce blight and encourage the development of brownfields and vacant lots, in part because improvements to the physical condition of buildings would not lead directly to higher taxes.

"Let me be very clear, I strongly oppose Mr. Finizio's land value tax plan,'' Pero said in a statement. "This proposed tax increase is the wrong idea at the wrong time; New London simply cannot afford to place an additional tax burden on its citizens. As Mayor of New London, I would oppose any tax increase on the families or local business."

Finizio responded that while he would be in favor of a pilot program for a land value tax assessment program for a portion of downtown, he is not proposing such a plan. It would need special state legislation to be enacted, he said.

In his campaign literature, Finzio suggested that the city "restart this (land value tax) pilot program, linking it to our initial redevelopment efforts. If it proves successful, LVT should be expanded citywide to recapture value and encourage revitalization in all of our city's neighborhoods."

The city currently participates in a more limited state-supported program that gives money for home improvements to people who have just bought a new home.

Pero's abatement program would require approval by the state legislature, which he said he would advocate for in Hartford.

Finizio said he too favors abatements, tax credits and other methods that can ease the tax burden of residents.

In 2009, the state passed special legislation giving New London the authority to appoint a land value tax committee to study LVT. The city could have adopted a pilot program that would have been the first of its kind in the state.

But the committee recommended against instituting such a program. A minority report recommended that the city educate the public on the impact of land-value taxation and implement LVT in a portion of the city's downtown. Those proposals were never acted on.

k.edgecomb@theday.com