WETHERSFIELD -- The state Department of Motor Vehicles is advising residents to check their motor vehicle tax bills to ensure that the correct information, specifically the address, is listed. As many as 50,000 residents may have gotten tax bills from the wrong towns, or have the wrong address listed on the bill.
“We are advising residents early so that they look immediately at their tax bills and make any necessary changes before paying them. All of us are being pro-consumer in this effort and wanting to prevent inconveniences for taxpayers,” said DMV Commissioner Michael Bzdyra.
The DMV, along with the Connecticut Tax Collectors Association and the Connecticut Association of Assessing Officers, said they are asking customers to be proactive in checking data following the conversion from the old computer registration system to the new one last August. The incorrect data may include old addresses that residents never changed when moving, or incorrect information that was filed when residents registered their cars.
The DMV used to collect registration information "in a variety of inconsistent ways," a press release issued Wednesday said, and the new computer system is trying to standardize the practice to ensure consistency.
For now, residents could have gotten tax bill from the wrong town; either because they never changed their address, or because they keep their car in a garage in a town different from the one in which they live, or another reason.
In Middletown, Mayor Daniel Drew said approximately 1200 people will receive incorrect notices. "It's a big deal in that it's going to take us some time and effort to correct everything," said Drew. "But we'll be able to handle it at the end of the day. The important thing is that we fix it moving forward, we get our taxpayers settled up with the appropriate bills and we'll be fine."
"It is important that if anyone receives a tax bill from the wrong town, they contact the town that issued the bill as soon as possible so that the bill can be forwarded to the correct town. If anyone receives a tax bill from the wrong town, it is important that they do not ignore the incorrect tax bill," said John Rainaldi, president of the Connecticut Association of Assessing Officers and Launa M. Goslee, president of the Connecticut Tax Collector’s Association.
The tax bill is based on your address as of October 1, 2015, and if your address is wrong you must contact your town's assessor to change your town of residency.
If you need to change your address on your registration you can click here or call DMV at 860-263-5700.
