New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
City looks to reclaim car tax revenue
WEST HAVEN — City officials are shifting gears to find ways to collect on tax revenue they believe the city is missing out on receiving.
Corporation Counsel Lee Tiernan told the City Council that an intern in his office would lead a project to ensure full-time
“There’s a concern as to whether people are registering their cars in West Haven as they’re supposed to and paying taxes as they’re supposed to.” West Haven Corporation Counsel Lee Tiernan
residents of the city have their vehicles registered within the city.
“There’s a concern as to whether people are registering their cars in West Haven as they’re supposed to and paying taxes as they’re supposed to,” Tiernan said.
According to state law, when a vehicle is parked in the city for four nights per week on a regular basis, it is supposed to be registered in the state of Connecticut to its West Haven address. If this doesn’t happen, the city misses out on the tax revenue it expects to collect for residents parking and driving their cars within city limits.
Mayor Nancy Rossi, who directed Corporation Counsel to focus its energy on the project, said she has heard a lot of feedback from residents on the matter.
“I have gotten so many complaints from residents, whether it be by email or town hall meeting,” she said. “They love the idea of people moving to the city and fixing up homes, but don’t love the idea of people having out-of-state plates on their car for a long period of time.”
Rossi said she could not estimate how much the city is missing in tax revenue because the city does not yet know how many vehicles are unaccounted for and what their assessment value would be, but she knows “there are a lot of out-of-state vehicles now.”
Tiernan said the first step to recouping the tax revenue would be to compare a list of land sales to a list of where vehicles are registered. He said the city expects to find the majority of mismatched residences and car registrations by doing that.
Per existing state law, new residents of West Haven have 60 days to change their vehicle’s registration. Rossi said she would be interested in exploring an ordinance to give the city more enforcement power, such as an ordinance adopted by Waterbury to issue a $250 fine after 90 days.
Councilman Barry Lee Cohen, R-10, said he was concerned that the rule might slip by new residents’ notice and they would be dismayed to receive an unexpected fine.
Tiernan said the city would seek compliance with the law through education before it turns to enforcement against scofflaws.
Council member Colleen O’Connor, R-At
Large, wondered how intern Riley Meachem, a law student at the University of Connecticut, would do the research.
“Mostly it’s transactional. I’m going to look at the record we have and the record the state has and discrepancies will come up right away,” Meachem said.
O’Connor said her question came from a motherly instinct, as she did not want the young law student arguing with residents about their vehicle’s registration at their doorstep.
“Just send a letter,” she said.
Councilwoman Robbin Watt Hamilton, D-5, asked whether students who reside in the city on a temporary or seasonal basis might run into problems. Tiernan said he believes the case against students would be too difficult to prove — many likely would have cars owned in a relative’s name and they might not stay in the city throughout the entire week, he gave as examples.
“We’re not coming in a punitive way. We’re exercising fairness,” Tiernan said.
Council President Ron Quagliani, D-At Large, said he believed neighbors would be a good resource in ensuring enforcement.
“They know who comes and goes,” he said.
However, Councilwoman Elizabeth Johnston, D-3, said she has University of New Haven students as neighbors whom she “adore(s),” but she knows not all full-time residents of the city want to live beside students, which could drive complaints.
Tiernan said that although he expects Meachem to do a good job for 19 hours of work each week, he does not expect the intern to survey which cars are parked in the city for four days per week or more.
“You do what you can,” Tiernan said, but realistically only the most clear cases of permanent residents and homeowners who are “boxed in” to parking at their homes will rise to the top.