Alderwoman Bobbi Tar addresses the board during a meeting June 10. The city announced plans to boot cars years ago, but city staff said they never actually started doing it.
ANSONIA – The Ansonia Board of Aldermen voted to move forward with a “booting” program for vehicle owners who are late on their taxes.
The Aldermen voted 10 – 2 June 10 to direct city staff to notify residents when they’re two years late on their motor vehicle taxes. If a resident doesn’t pay up, a towing company will be authorized to immobilize their car with a vehicle clamp.
“There’s so many cars, and we have this discussion constantly, that have not paid their taxes in extended periods of time,” said Alderwoman Bobbi Tar, who brought the measure before the board. “The city is in a position where we need to start collecting those back taxes.”
She said the city is facing over half a million dollars in uncollected car taxes, and that the program will help make that money back. Tar said other cities across the state have seen success with booting enforcement programs.
A May report from the tax collector’s office said the city has about $443,000 in uncollected motor vehicle taxes, plus another $112,000 in unpaid motor vehicle supplemental taxes. That’s about $555,000 total.
If your car is booted, you’ll have to pay off the full tax bill, plus a separate fee to the towing company to remove the boot.
The boot removal fee would be a flat $150, according to a draft notice included in the meeting packet.
Ansonia Corporation Counsel John Marini said the city has existing agreements that would allow the booting to start.
The city previously signed an agreement to boot cars in 2019. However, Marini said he didn’t believe the city actually ever started booting cars. There was no further explanation given during the meeting.
The city had also looked into booting vehicles back in 2012, but opted not to do it.
The Aldermen most recently debated on what should trigger the booting – how many years of back taxes are owed, versus how many dollars of back taxes are owed.
Tar said that anyone who is two years late or more should be penalized the same way.
“We both commit the exact same offense, the penalty should be the same for both of us,” Tar said.
Alderman Dan King disagreed with Tar. He said that enforcement is more difficult with property owners than it is with renters, and that flat fees disproportionately hurt lower-income residents.
“We can’t boot cars in somebody’s driveway. Now, those might be people that owe even more money, because I knew several people in the city that had large bills and they parked the cars in the driveway, and we can’t touch them,” King said. “So it affects people street parking and in the lower wards more than anyone else.”
King said booting should only be considered if the amount of back taxes exceeds a certain dollar amount.
However, Aldermen Chicago Rivers and Tony Mammone agreed with Tar, saying that it’s fair to punish the same offense the same way. They said that anyone who doesn’t pay their car taxes for two years should get booted.
Ultimately, the Aldermen voted in favor of Tar’s proposal. The vote was 10 – 2, with King and Alderman Joseph Cassetti voting against it.
Twelve out of 14 Aldermen were present at the meeting. Aldermen Steven Adamowski and Gary Farrar were absent and did not cast votes.
