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Tax Collector Stanley Gorzelany had proposed that any real estate bill that was less than $500 should be paid in one installment rather than four equal installments as is done now for all tax bills over $100.
The tax collector had told RTM committees that this would save the town money and time. However, he told the Minuteman on Wednesday morning that the amendment had been tabled. He said members felt that it would be too much of a burden to some people.
Real Estate taxes will thus remain payable in four installments on July 1, October 1, January 1, and April 1, as long as the total annual amount is over $100.
Motor vehicle and personal property taxes will similarly remain payable in two equal installments, due July 1 and January 1 as long as they are over $100 in total.
There had been a proposal to make any bill less than $500 payable all at once.
The RTM also had a first reading of a proposal by the tax collector that any bill less than $10 not be sent out. Current policy is to not send a bill for an amount that is $2 or less. The tax collector's office has said that it costs more than $2 to collect such a small bill. If there were a $10 threshold, only $11,809 would have remained uncollected for the 2007 Grand List, according to the assessor's office. He said a $10 threshold would essentially be a wash.
Since the measure was a first reading there was no vote taken and "relatively little discussion," according to Gorzelany. As a result, he will send a memo to First Selectman Ken Flatto asking that there be no action on the matter this year because tax bills generally go out the second week of June and it would take about a week to re-program the system and another week for the bills to come back from the printer. If the RTM votes at its next meeting on June 22, the bills would not go out until July.
The assessor's office sends approximately 23,000 real estate tax bills, 48,000 motor vehicle tax bills 2,300 personal property tax bills, and 16,000 sewer tax bills every year.
