The fixation with how many luxury cars are registered in Greenwich is annoying. Somehow, the discussion about eliminating the car tax always turns to Greenwich, and how rich people will get a bigger tax break than any one else if the car tax was eliminated. This is such a silly argument. With a mil rate of 7.5, Greenwich car owners barely pay a car tax to begin with. Let’s look at the list of registered “luxury” cars in Greenwich courtesy of today’s Courant article:

3,769 BMWs

3,474 Mercedes-Benzes

931 Porsches

94 Ferraris

90 Bentleys

65 Aston Martins

40 Maseratis

39 Rolls-Royces

First I scoff at lumping the BMWs and Mercedes in this list, because a car make is not always the best way to determine a “luxury” status. Many Mercedes sedans can be had for $30k. Many Lexus sedans can be had for $50k. A GM SUV will cost more than many BMWs. But the list was created because the author, Christopher Keating, wants to paint a picture. And that picture is of rich people owning and driving multiple cars in tony Greenwich, which he does by mentioning Diana Ross and Tommy Hilfiger.

Of course who cares what rich people do in their cars, unless your are talking about L.A. And speaking of California, they do have a car tax, but it’s assessed by the DMV and is uniform throughout the state. Meaning the Honda Accord in 90210 pays the same tax as the Honda Accord in 92284. And that’s the problem with Connecticut’s car tax in the first place. A Honda Accord with a $30k assessed value would cost $225 in car taxes. That same vehicle in Norwalk (23.238 mils) would be $697.14. If you live in Bridgeport that will be $1209.60 (40.32 mils).

Is it any wonder that Bridgeport struggles to develop small business job growth, when it is cheaper for your local, say plumbing outfit, to base their office out of Shelton (23.59 mils)? And plumbers, electtricians, general contractors, and even pizza parlors all tend to require multiple cars or trucks to do business.

Economic impact should be the chief concern of our legislature. On the one hand they decry the high cost of living in the state, and call for actions to stop the flow of young people from the state. Yet, here’s an opportunity to reduce a tax that unfairly targets people who choose to live in the more affordable areas of Connecticut. Connecticut, without event calculating the local taxes, according to Kiplinger, already ranks in the bottom tier of states for costs associated with operating a car. 38th if it’s a Camry according to this article. I’ve linked to the Excel Spread Sheet here: Car Taxes 50 States.

Local municipalities fear that the state won’t reimburse them for the loss of the car tax revenue, which currently is collected by the municipality, not the state. Yet, from the resident standpoint, the mechanism for collecting the tax is clunky and inefficient. If there’s going to be a car tax, make it fair, make it uniform and make it easy to pay. Paying the tax at the point of registration would be a step in the right direction.

But in the end, if Connecticut wants to stay competitive with a state like Oregon, it will need to streamline its archaic 169 forms of government and taxation and start delivering streamlined government operations.

source: Courant , Fancy Cars, Taxing Debate, by Christopher Keating, March 18, 2007

source: Kiplinger, Tax-Friendly Places to Buy a Car, By Mark Solheim, April 7, 2006

Tags: In the News · Transportation

22 Responses so far ↓ “Car Tax Debate Rolls On”

• 1 jed722 // Mar 18, 2007 at 9:48 am

  Towns can’t afford to lose the car tax. You are advocating a decrease in the BOE spending, yet also advocating a further reduction in town revenues. You can’t have both.

• 2 Watchdog // Mar 18, 2007 at 10:14 am

  Hey, Jed. Can you explain what you mean by not having both? Please understand I don’t wanna sound oppositional; I just need clarification to what is a good point on your behalf. Fog brain, you know…

  Also, in response to the car tax, I think most people don’t mind paying taxes IF they are getting the best bang for their buck. The inaccountability of the BOE doesn’t schmooze the taxpayer, that’s fer shure.

• 3 jed722 // Mar 18, 2007 at 10:25 am

  Turfgrrl is saying don’t raise the spending cap. Raising the spending cap is needed to allow for the recommended BOE budget. Here’s she’s saying get rid of the car tax. Which would mean raising the property taxes.

• 4 anon // Mar 18, 2007 at 10:37 am

  Jed, Turfgrrl said, “If there’s going to be a car tax, make it fair, make it uniform and make it easy to pay. Paying the tax at the point of registration would be a step in the right direction.”

  How much does the local town pay in sending our all those paper tax bills each year? And I agree that the impact on the car tax is greater on the middle class than the Greenwich class.

• 5 anonymous // Mar 18, 2007 at 11:15 am

  RE:Raising the spending cap is needed to allow for the recommended BOE budget.

  The recommended BOE budget is way out of proportion and the cap should not be removed. The BOE spends, spends, spends and delivers a big ” 0 ” Anyone who believes the cap should be raised or removed just doesn’t care how and why your taxes are being spent.
  Talk to the teachers in the Norwalk School system (If they are not censored) and they can tell you up close and personal the whole spend and waste process of the BOE. As far as the car tax goes, there are no guarantees that the state will follow thru with the rembursements to the municipalities, therefore putting each town in jeopardy of losing much needed monies for roads, infrastructure etc. However, each and every town in CT should use the same tax books when determining the rate at which a car owner is taxed.

• 6 jed722 // Mar 18, 2007 at 11:48 am

  Look, all I’m pointing out is that you can’t say, let’s keep spending down, let’s invest in infrastrucutre and also say let’s get rid of the car tax which goes to the town. That’s too much, you can’t do all of that. You have to pay for things.

• 7 anonymous // Mar 18, 2007 at 11:55 am

  Exactly jed722/ If we are to keep spending down and take care of the infrastructure we have to vote no on eliminating the car tax, no on the BOE budget and make darn sure the common council sticks to their guns and does NOT raise the cap. If the council renegs on their previous vote, this should give the voters the inclination that the wiil buckle under pressure and should not be in the position to oversee our city.

• 8 Anonymous // Mar 18, 2007 at 1:32 pm

  Yeah, but did you read the letter to the editor in today’s Hour from the PTO council VIP’s? They are readying their dog and pony show at local schools. Why is it that the PTO council (parents) back the BOE on an almost involuntary basis? Fred Wilms also will be contributing and answering questions with Dr. Corda. What is everyone’s spin on this?

• 9 anonymous // Mar 18, 2007 at 1:44 pm

  Here’s how it works…Corda goes to the BOE and cries his tale of woes, the BOE goes to the PTO and brings Corda’s message of doom and gloom! From there the PTO goes to the teachers and tell them that the word on the street is that their jobs are on the line and programs will be cut. From there, the teachers go to the parents with their concerns and from there the entire community is in a tizzy. If the Common council falls for this BS, they are just as bad as Corda and the BOE! Keep the cap and make the cuts at the top

• 10 anonymous // Mar 18, 2007 at 2:29 pm

  The cap has been set. Corda gets to pick what he wants to cut. The real problem is that the BOE let’s him do what he wants, not what is best for Norwalk. Is Corda getting a raise with this budget? Does Corda get a paid car? Does any other admin staff? Does admin staff get overtime? Does Corda get other perks?
  These are the issues that should be raised.

• 11 Anon // Mar 18, 2007 at 5:47 pm

  Turfgirl: Just wondering - any chance you could call this The Norwalk Blog? I think the majority of commenters here would love to target the city specifically. What do you think?

• 12 anonymous // Mar 18, 2007 at 5:49 pm

  Who has more power the BOE or Corda? Why has the car tax been brought up with out bringing up the property tax? Why is it that in the cities with the highest mil rate we have troubled schools? If we were to make it more attractive for new comers to settle their roots into our city would not the drop of over taxing be a good thing? When is the next tea party at the harbor? It’s not Boston but you should get my point.

• 13 anonymous // Mar 18, 2007 at 7:15 pm

  Let’s talk about Bridgeport and how the city is doing after Mayor G?

• 14 turfgrrl // Mar 18, 2007 at 7:20 pm

  anon # 11: Certainly there’s a high participation from Norwalk in the comments and because of where I live in the post topics. But there are many things I like to post about that have statewide impact, or concern other cities that I think are worth discussing. I do try and label the Norwalk stuff so that you can search for it, but maybe I’ll set up a Norwalk category or something.

• 15 turfgrrl // Mar 18, 2007 at 7:34 pm

  anon #13: Bridgeport is a fascinating city these days. There’s an organic redevelopment happening downtown, old buildings being repurposed for retail, restaurant and art galleries. The other day, I heard Mayor Fabrizi talking about the Harbor Yards and how the sporting events were bringing in people into Bridgeport. Yet there is some contentious debate about stuff like the sale of the Sikorsky airport, and whether the inter-modal transit hub will happen soon enough, or will Fairfield build its train station and retail empire and shift commuters to that “hub”. I have some posts in the works on Bridgeport in the near future.

• 16 anonymous // Mar 18, 2007 at 7:50 pm

  I love the zoo. It is a nice place in some sections. I wish the mil rate would drop to make it more attracktive to home buyers. Back in the day it was the place to be Seaside park was nice and there used to be a mall downtown. Now it is about time more happen to imporve the rest of the place. I find it a litttle scary to visit the hospitals at night after sundown.

• 17 anonymous // Mar 18, 2007 at 7:55 pm

  Back to the answer from#1. towns can afford to drop the car tax it will bring more citizens and they will buy property and they will eat in our resturants and shop in our stores and all will be good. CT used to have no state income tax and it was a big draw for companies to move their businesses here. We were told that the state income tax was only for 8 years when it was first instated, well it has been more than 8 years and here we are paying more and more each year.

• 18 turfgrrl // Mar 18, 2007 at 8:17 pm

  anon # 17: I’m not fond of the car tax, but I can also see that municipal side of the argument against eliminating it. But the way the car tax is tracked and collected is one of the most inefficient systems we have. The point of taxation should be at registration, and at purchase/lease. It should be fair, everyone should pay the same rate.

  Most municipalities don’t collect the tax efficiently. Stamford, for example, is sending out a collection agency to go after unpaid bills from years ago. It’s just an archaic system. So streamline it, reduce the operation costs, reduce the tax itself and the net to municipalities would be neutral.

  I’d also like to see property tax reduced by breaking out school taxes. Let a community vote on a referendum on whether to raise school taxes or not, instead of being a parasitic expense attached to municipal government without any financial controls. The system makes no sense.

  The downside of what I’m proposing is that it then puts the fate of school budget increases in the hands of voters on a yearly basis. Voters without kids in the system would have no incentive to vote for school tax increases. But this type of system seems to work in other states, so why not rethink it?

• 19 anonymous // Mar 18, 2007 at 8:54 pm

  #17, why would they repeal the income tax? Its another revenue for the state to squander much like the federal government when they waste away $$$ trying to find out
  $4,000,000 for a railroad to the North Pole(Will it include an audience with santa?)yes this is really in the budget.

• 20 concerned citizen // Mar 19, 2007 at 3:02 pm

  The absolute bottom line is we are taxed for everything. Taxes & Greedy Unions, It’s the reason it is so hard to live here & make ends meet. Why do private schools spend half as much per child than public school? Nice deal the BOE & Teachers union (DEM CITY)have. These cohorts get a riduclous amount of money & no one questions how it’s being spent. Why is Bruce Morris getting TWO SALARIES. Yes, 2 salaries. Because King Corda let him keep his 90K salary IN ADDITION to the salary from the legislative office he was elected to as well. The BOE and EVERY city Deptment should be accountable for every dollar. And for Heavens sake, get a hold of these greedy unions. They are killing the tax payer. Every year my heath benefits decline and my premiunms go up, but unions keep getting our tax dollars to pay crazy increases for their membership. Enough already.

• 21 anonymous // Mar 19, 2007 at 4:28 pm

  FYI Something good for you tax dollars.
  By ANNA GUSTAFSON
  Hour Staff Writer

  NORWALK � Brien McMahon High School is a “model” school that hurddles its students, teachers and staff toward success, a hefty 57-page report from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges states.

  “The overall quality of the educational opportunities at Brien McMahon High School is remarkable. Though pressed by the increase in school enrollment, the learning environment is overwhelmingly positive, comfortable and safe,” the report states. “The faculty and administration work hard to maintain an atmosphere that is supportive of students and to emphasize valuing the diversity that exists in the school. In fact, Brien McMahon High School is a model for creating a school climate that celebrates and practices understanding and respect for all.”

  The report by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges’ Commission on Public Secondary Schools, titled “Report of the Visiting Committee,” was the end result of Brien McMahon’s accreditation.

  During the accreditation process, NEASC, an independent group made up of educators and administrators, assesses schools and prepares a report on the school based on findings about matters such as curriculum, school safety and student learning.
  Fifteen evaluators spent four days in Norwalk and met with administrators, teachers, school staff, students and parents to assess everything from the school’s technology to communication with parents. As part of the accreditation process � which occurs once every 10 years � Brien McMahon cn conducted a self-study for one and a half years before the NEASC evaluation, and NEASC members found the high school’s report mirrored their own findings.

  “By the second day the certified educators were here, they came into my office and said, “we love this school,” said Brien McMahon Principal Joe Rodriguez. “That was a wonderful thing for me to hear. They saw this as a school that has amazing learning opportunities, and they saw a school that should be a model for other schools for what can happen in a diverse environment. Students feel overwhelmingly safe in the school, which is especially important in an urban school.”

  NEASC members shadowed 15 students from all sects of the high school’s population � special education to honors students � and theyhey determined students were engaged in their academics, supported by teachers, administration and staff and felt their school to be safe.

  “Faculty and administration actively and intentionally work hard to build an environment in which individuals and groups are treated fairly and respectfully,” the report states. “The entire school community takes pride in the success and claims with enthusiasm to be the “school of choice.” Clearly, students value their school as evidenced by student involvement in a wide variety of co-curricular activities and the numerous awards students have received.”

  School staff said they were thrilled � but not surprised  � with the NEASC’s report’s conclusions.

  “You find the kids feel very comfortable here, as do the teachers,” said Elaine Buckley, a housemaster. “There is a good relationship between the students and the staff. I really believe because there’s a very positive rapport between them, the students feel comfortable.”

  Teachers and staff credited Rodriguez with maintaining a safe and comfortable school atmosphere, and NEASC members too lauded Rodriguez for his leadership style.

  “The principal of Brien McMahon High School provides inspirational leadership in the school community by creating and maintaining a shared vision, direction and focus for student learning. Whether dealing with teachers, students or parents, the principal provides a clear vision for the school,” the report states. “All constituents of the school community praise his leadership style, open-door policy, and collaborative nature. His approachable manner and evident pride in the school have contributed to success in enhancing faculty morale. He fosters a safe, orderly and respectful environment as evidenced by student and faculty camaraderie.”

  Buckley and teachers Scott Hurwitz and Nicole Vitale agreed Rodriguez has magnified academic excellence, safety and a sense of school-togetherness.

  “Joe’s door is always open,” said Hurwitz, a tenth grade English teacher and chair of the self-study’s steering committee. “A student can always go into Joe’s office to talk.”

  Thanks to this environment, the majority of students feel as though there’s an adult in the building with whom they can discuss problems, Hurwitz said.

  “They feel there’s an adult, not counting their guidance counselor, they can talk to. The fact that there’s so many kids that feel they can talk to someone here is a strength,” Hurwitz said.

  Several months ago, Rodriguez said the staff conducted a student survey that found 81 percent of students believe they have at least one adult � aside from a guidance or student support staff � at Brien McMahon that they can ggo to for advice or support.

  “There’s a close correlation between that result and perceptions of safety,” Rodriguez said.

  With Rodriguez leaving at the end of this year, staff said they hope the new principal will be as effective in unifying the school as Rodriguez.

  “We have a very special climate here, and we want to make sure the importance of congeniality is not lost on the principal coming in,” Hurwitz said.

  In order to be a productive leader, Rodriguez said the incoming principal cannot act unilaterally.

  “It has a lot to do with establishing and cultivating relationships — being open to parents, being open to students, being willing to hear what you’d rather not have to hear,” Rodriguez said. “In order for the school to be effective, the leadership team has to hear from people who disagree as well as the people who agree. The person has to go in with an understanding that it takes all of us to make a better school. It’s not the job of the principal alone to do it.”

  The report wasn’t all roses, and it did point out areas in which Brien McMahon could improve. NEASC members emphasized the need to better integrate the library use into curricula and for library employees to facilitate a more welcoming atmosphere.

  “(The) library media center is underutilized because students and faculty members do not feel welcome,” the report states. “Recent survey results indicate that 28 percent of students feel welcomed by all of the staff, and about 36 percent of students feel that all of the library staff is willing to help them when they are using the library … With improved relationships between the library staff and students and the library staff and teachers, educational experiences for students will expand.

  NEASC members also suggested the library expand its DVD collection, consolidate the non-fiction collection in the library to make it easier to locate materials and involve the library media specialist in curricula planning where research skills are embedded into subject areas.

  Library improvements are underway and have been prior to the NEASC findings, Rodriguez said.

  “There have been positive changes. The library media center is already more heavily utilized than in the fall,” he said. “We met with the library media center staff, we formed a committee of teachers who had concerns, we met with students and staff members, we began working with library media staff and explained to them the concerns we had. We wanted to change an atmosphere where students and staff needed to feel supported; they felt there were too many restrictions there.”

  Anna Gustafson may be reached via e-mail at agustafson@thehour.com

• 22 turfgrrl // Mar 20, 2007 at 6:40 pm

  anonymous 21: Yes it is good news, but we don’t to respect the copyrights of other publications, it’s not wise to post an entire article without permission. Please provide smaller bits and link to back to the publication site, or article. Thank you.