Lived in CT from mid-seventies ‘till the early nineties; about 16 years. Cost of living was fairly high in Fairfield County (in SW CT) where we lived, but in those days the state was still solvent. In neighboring Westchester County (NY state) the taxes were dramatically higher than in CT. So, at least then, it was more desirable to live in Fairfield County, which was within easy commuting distance of NYC. Then the democrats in Hartford started increasing corporate taxes & property taxes about a decade ago, to the extent several companies with corporate headquarters in CT started to bail. One of them being GE, which moved to the Boston area.
I read somewhere that 15% of Connecticut’s state retirees account for 30% of the state’s budget.
Don’t know if that’s correct but it’s certainly plausible, IMHO.