The city has suspended its controversial program of booting cars whose owners are behind on their vehicle taxes – but only until the end of the month.
Mayor Art Ward said that anyone who is more than six months behind in paying motor vehicle taxes should come in to the tax office and pay up or work out a payment schedule in order to avoid getting the boot come August.
The program collected $122,000 in two weeks of operation in June, Ward said, by forcing owners to pay their back taxes and a $175 fee to get the boot removed.
Greg Randall, a Bristol resident, lashed out at city officials at this week’s City Council session for adopting the hard-nosed approach during such tough economic times.
“I am very ashamed” to live in a town that forces “people that are struggling” to come up with money for rent and food to cough up tax dollars, Randall said.
“At the end of the day, they will be forced to starve while you sit here smugly enforcing this bogus law,” Randall said.
City Councilor Ken Cockayne fired back.
Cockayne said the city is not imposing new taxes, merely requiring that people pay what they owe.
“We’re asking them to abide by the law,” Cockayne said. “We need the money now.”
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Copyright 2010. All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
5 comments:
now if we could only boot those who continue to drive around with out-of-state license plates [especially vermont] on their vehicles.
these people are breaking the law, and need to have their vehicles registered in connecticut.
i moved here from out of state and complied with this law, why do others feel like they don't have to ??
the bristol police department needs to step up their enforcement of this law.
-billy from bristol
could be they own property in VT and that is their state of domicile?
Has Cockayne ever longed for anything in his life? The man should be ashamed of his stance.
It's a shame, if only for a month...
Folks need to learn that there are consequences for not paying their bills.
The boot is one of those consequences -- and every single person that had their car booted deserved exactly what they got.
No, most people who ride around town all year long with VT plates are Bristol residents just trying to avoid paying taxes in Bristol! And the rest of us are picking up their share of taxes!
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