by Coral Aponte
A task force fell short of delivering its recommendations to the General Assembly Wednesday after hearing a new idea to cap the mill rate for commercial vehicles at 32.46 mills.
The meeting was supposed to be the last before the Feb. 7 start of the session. However, due to the absence of data to support letting cities and towns keep revenue from commercial vehicles another meeting will take place where it will discuss its final recommendations.
“I don’t think we have impact for 169 towns, nor do I think we have ideas of compliance cost for businesses and individuals to comply,” Stewart Beckett, member of the Glastonbury Town Council, said. “And I think we need to start from the beginning and develop some data about what we want to do.”
The task force has been meeting since October trying to find ways to repeal the tax and find new ways to make up for the $1 billion in motor vehicle taxes. The complexity behind trying to find a solution is due in part to the disparity that is motor vehicle tax. Where you live in the state varies greatly on how much you pay in taxes. It’s also one of the few taxes municipalities are able to levy to support their budgets.
Motor vehicle tax is determined by the mill rate of each municipality which varies depending on the town’s taxable grand list. Cities that have fewer taxable properties, like hospitals and universities, tend to have a higher car tax.
For some towns, the tax serves as an incredible source of budget revenue. Windsor Locks, for example, gets about $5 million a year from car rental agencies tied to Bradley international Airport.
Department of Revenue Services Commissioner Mark Boughton said they are nowhere near ready to commit to a final report, but that they are determined to work towards a solution. He highlighted all the hard work that the task force has done and how they are going to make sure that something comes out of it. He also mentioned possibly getting an extension from the legislature to continue the conversation.
Like in past meetings members wondered if they could have a conversation about the motor vehicle tax without talking about local property taxes.
“Any reduction in the motor vehicle tax is going to exacerbate the shift to real estate and to homeowners,” Matt Hart, executive director of the Capitol Region Council of Governments, has said. “Already we have a situation across the state where residential assessments have increased significantly due to the housing market.”
Sen. MD Rahman, D-Manchester, who chairs the task force, emphasized how they don’t want to put anyone in harm’s way with a repeal of the motor vehicle tax, which is why they are continuing to have another meeting.
They plan to take a closer look at the new proposed idea and how it compares in relation to other taxes and competing states.
“I do think it’s an interesting idea. I would just need to see a little more data to see how this would impact each town,” Rep. Brandon Chafee, D-Middletown, said.