Tax scofflaws in Ansonia won’t see a “boot” attached to their cars anytime soon.
A tax delinquency “booting” program was one of several ideas floated by city aldermen in February when the board discussed more than $3.8 million owed to the city in back taxes.
But the board’s finance committee, which met on Monday (March 19), unanimously decided that wasn’t the way the city wanted to collect its back taxes.
“It seems like tax collection has got to be a priority,” said finance committee member John Marini. “But beating our citizenry over the head is probably not the best way about it.”
Now the task becomes figuring out how to get hundreds of delinquent taxpayers to make good on their property and motor vehicle taxes.
Finance committee members brainstormed on that topic for about an hour Monday with Tax Collector Bridget Bostic.
“I don’t think it’s any one program that’s going to be the answer,” Alderman David Knapp said. “I think it’s going to be a combination.”
Ideas
Bostic outlined several programs she is looking into to help with tax collection rates.
One of the main problems is outdated address information for taxpayers, she said. The city uses information from the Department of Motor Vehicles from Oct. 1, 2010 to try to claim taxes now.
People move, but that information doesn’t necessarily catch up with the tax collector’s office.
Bostic said she wants the city to look into a $250-a-year program called DMV Direct. The program lets Ansonia tap into current DMV records — including license information.
So if a person moves and updates their license address, but doesn’t re-register their car, the city can still find them to send the bill.
Bostic also spoke of Lexus Nexis, a research service that could help Ansonia track down current addresses for tax delinquents.
Both options will be reviewed at the next finance subcommittee meeting.
Alderman Jerome Fainer said he wants to review a consulting service run by former tax collectors, which could help the city track down delinquent taxpayers.
Marini suggested referring delinquent taxpayers to financial services, such as a bank for refinancing, to help them be able to start paying down their tax bills. The city has no official payment plan for back taxes, but Bostic said she never turns down a payment — even if it’s not for the full amount.
And, the city continues to review whether to auction off properties that have been on the delinquent list for several years.
That’s what the city did in December, when it sold six properties at auction and collecting $114,000 toward about $325,000 owed on the homes.
Eugene Sharkey, the president of the Board of Aldermen, said the finance committee will review programs and then make a recommendation to the Board of Apportionment and Taxation to help convince the tax board to budget the money in the tax collector’s budget for 2012 – 2013.
