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Borough to split car taxes for bills of $300 or more

NAUGATUCK — Starting this year, Naugatuck residents will have the option of splitting their car taxes into two payments if their bill is $300 or more.

Tax Collector Jim Goggin said residents will have the option the pay 50 percent of their bill for the 2013 grand list on July 1 and 50 percent on Jan. 1, 2015.

“I think it’s a good idea. It doesn’t cost the town any more money. It makes it easier on the taxpayer,” Goggin said.

Residents who don’t want to split the bill will be able to pay it off in July.

The borough decided to move in this direction in order to help out residents from increasing tax bills.

Due to a revaluation, the mill rate leapt last year from 33.55 mills to 44.8 mills. This caused residents to see an increase of approximately 25 percent in their car taxes.

“With the increase in mill rate due to the decrease in real estate values, motor vehicle taxes have increased significantly,” Burgess Laurie Taf-Jackson said in a press release.

Taf-Jackson approached the tax office with the idea, Goggin said, and worked with him and Controller Robert Butler to implement it.

Goggin said the cut off for splitting the car tax bill at $300 was based on what surrounding towns were doing.

“Most towns we surveyed were $300,” Goggin said.

Putting the limit at $300 also helps the tax office out.

“If we went with $200 it would split too many bills and there would be long lines to pay the bills,” Goggin said. “The best service to town and helping taxpayers with bills was to split them at $300.”