Conn: House Bill 5405

[Don]

From a 4C's update:

" We continue to urge hobbyists to contact their legislator (particularly if they are members of the Planning and Development Committee), to indicate their opposition to these portions of House Bill 5405. "

" House Bill 5405, "An Act Establishing a State-Wide Mill Rate for Motor Vehicles and Amending the Definition of Antique, Rare or Special Interest Motor Vehicles." The proposal to raise the maximum property tax assessment from $500 to $2500 starts on page 5 of 8, line 132 (Section 3 - which proposes to revise Subsection (b) of Section 12-71 of the General Statutes). The proposal to raise the minimum age of an antique, rare or special interest motor vehicle from 20 to 30 years starts on page 7 of 8, line 187 (Section 5 - which proposes to revise Subdivision (2) of Section 14-1 of the General Statutes). When reading this, note that text enclosed in brackets [ ] is being deleted. Underlined text is being added to the statute. If the text is neither contained in brackets or underlined, it is the current statute text that is not being changed. "

" The 4C’s respectfully requests that the Planning and Development Committee delete the portion of House Bill 5405 that increases the assessed value for an antique, rare or special interest motor vehicle from $500 to $2500. Additionally, if the Committee feels it necessary to raise the age of an antique, rare or special interest motor vehicle from 20 to 30 years, then we request that consideration be given to allowing 20 to 30 year old antique, rare or special interest motor vehicles that currently have special number plates to continue to utilize them. "

CTccc.net - The Connecticut Council of Car Clubs

The 4C's spend $1,000 monthly for services to monitor pending legislation impacting the CT car hobbyist. Individual Membership is available for $15 annually.

http://www.ctccc.net/images/stories/...bershipapp.pdf

Mentioned outside of the 4Cs testimony:

"At the public hearing , the House Democratic Majority Leader Brendan Sharkey spoke in favor of the bill followed by Rep. Jeff Berger from Waterbury. The problem or inequity that they are trying to fix is that an individual who lives in a high mill rate municipality pays considerably more property tax on their motor vehicle than a person in a low mill rate municipality for the same motor vehicle "

House Bill HB 5405:

Bill Status*

[SJK2]

Don,

Thanks much for the update, It seems they had the public meeting on the 9th wonder what
was the response....

[Don]

Originally Posted by SJK2

Don,

Thanks much for the update, It seems they had the public meeting on the 9th wonder what
was the response....

Unknown, the progression of the Bill inclusive of changes, Committee votes, referral to other Committees, etc., will be posted on the Bill web site. Based upon past Bills, there is a delay between the action step and posting the update:

Bill Status*

Possibility of a common state wide mill rate for motor vehicles might bring some interesting input, as there will be winners and losers to maintain the same overall tax revenue.

[Don]

UPDATE: From HB5405

Statement of Purpose:

To simplify the motor vehicle taxation system, encourage the registration of vehicles and narrow property tax benefits for antique cars.

[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]


AN ACT ESTABLISHING A STATE-WIDE MILL RATE FOR MOTOR VEHICLES AND AMENDING THE DEFINITION OF ANTIQUE, RARE OR SPECIAL INTEREST MOTOR VEHICLES.

[Don]

Testimony at the Public Hearing:

*

URL didn't show, click on the character images above......should work

[Don]

*** 4C's House Bill Update:

" Regarding House Bill 5164 on Year of Manufacture Plates, we know that the bill has been reported out of the Transportation Committee and it is with the Legislative Commissioners' Office. We do not yet know whether the portion of the bill proposing to eliminate year of manufacture plates has been removed as we requested. "

" Regarding House Bill 5405 proposing to increase the maximum tax assessment increase to $2500 and the age of an antique vehicle to 30 years, the Planning and Development Committee appears to have reported the bill favorably out Committee on Friday March 23, 2012 by a 10 to 9 vote. The bill is apparently still alive in this session. Recommend we continue contact our legislators and voice our opposition to this bill. "

*** Other:

Thanks to the CC Members that joined the 4C's, individual membership is increasing as well as the additional individual donations. The 4C's annual auto show at the New England Air Museum ( Bradley Airport, Windsor Locks, CT ) is Sunday June 3rd.,

[Don]

4C's UPDATE:

" House Bill 5405 proposes to impose a state wide mill rate for all motor vehicle property taxes. This means if you live in a city/town with a relatively low mill rate, you will end up paying more in local property taxes to subsidize others that live in a city/town with a relatively high mill rate. The state will act as the middleman to redistribute these funds. House Bill 5405 also proposes to increase the minimum age of an antique, rare or special interest vehicle from its current 20 year age to 30 years. The bill also raises the maximum property tax assessment on antique, rare or special interest vehicles from the current $500 limit to $2500 dollars. In the E-mail with the 4C's April 2012 newsletter I sent out last week, I ( 4Cs )indicated the bill was favorably reported out of the Planning and Development Committee and is working its way through the legislative process. The bill will either be referred to another committee or directly to the state house to be debated and voted on by your representatives. Should it pass the house it would then go to the state senate."

" Now is the time to contact your state representatives and state senators indicating your opposition to House Bill 5405. It is important that they hear from you on this bill. I ( 4Cs ) did have a discussion with a SEMA representative from Washington DC regarding this bill. One valuable take away from this phone call with SEMA was that Connecticut automotive hobbyists are not expressing our opposition to the bill as strongly as the automotive hobbyists in other states have to similar bills. We need to step up our efforts here. "

" Your legislators need to hear from you! "

[mickmate]

Luckily that died like last year.Connecticut Bill to Restrict Antique Vehicle Registration Dies as Session Ends
Good on you for keeping awareness up and urging people to contact their legislators. It will just be a matter of time before we finish up getting the hobby legislated away like European and other countries.

[Don]

Update below from the 4Cs, authored by the individual that testified at the Committee Hearings. As an FYI, from the GreenwichTime.com ( CT ):

" The state Department of Motor Vehicles currently caps the annual assessment at $500 for each of the 47,730 autos in the special program. "


Read more: Bill would tax antique cars fivefold - GreenwichTime

" House Bill 5405, which proposed to introduce a state wide mill rate on all motor vehicles, raise the maximum property tax assessed value of an antique car from $500 to $2500, and increase the age of an antique car from 20 to 30 years is dead. The bill, which narrowly made it out of committee and was sitting on the House calendar for a vote, did not get voted on by the full House (or the Senate). As such, the maximum $500 assessed value on an antique, rare or special motor vehicle will remain in effect, and the minimum age for an antique, rare or special interest motor vehicle will remain at 20 years. That is very good news! "

" In other good news, House Bill 5164, which proposed to eliminate the use of year of manufacture plates along with many other items related to the Department of Motor Vehicles, was amended. The amendment deleted the section of the bill eliminating the use of Year of Manufacture Plates. The amended version of the bill passed both the House and the Senate and will be sent to the Governor for his signature. As such, the use of Year of Manufacture Plates will continue to be allowed in Connecticut. The fact that the Legislature was compelled to back off on the elimination of Year of Manufacture plates is directly attributable to the Connecticut automotive hobbyists contacting their legislators and voicing their opposition to the elimination . Great work to those of you who contacted their legislators! The amendment was offered by Representatives Guerrera and Scribner and Senators Maynard and Boucher. I understand Senator Bob Duff from Norwalk was instrumental in working behind the scenes to get the Amendment introduced. Thank you Senator Duff! "

[Albie]

Has anyone been successful in getting their CT local tax assessor to value their replica at $500? If so, what Town? I have an ERA that DMV titled as a 1965, but my town wants to assess it at $20,000 - and that means a much bigger tax bill. If other Towns consider replicas as 'special interest vehicles' and assess them at $500 I'm sure I could appeal my assessment. Thanks for your help!

[Don]

What published source reference is the Town using to arrive at the $20,000 value? I have been away from the topic for some time, might also look into Antique/Historical plates based upon the year of 1965.

Make name is still Composite ?

[Albie]

They got the value from the DMV. The make is listed as ERA.

[Albie]

Also, DMV told me when I registered it that it was eligible for antique plates due to a statuate revision in 2009.

[Ron61]

Congratulations on getting that bill stopped. It seems that we are having the same crap out here almost every year. In fact I think California would like to make all special construction vehicles illegal. This stuff is something that all states have to watch carefully as they keep trying out here to make it harder and harder to own one.

Ron

[Don]

Originally Posted by Albie

They got the value from the DMV. The make is listed as ERA.

Maybe someone with current knowledge will clarify.

Kit Cars in CT are registered with a make name of Composite ,not the manufacturer's name. Or, the DMV clerk did not recognize the ERA as a kit car. Might be the reason for assigning the $20,000 value, rather than the sources the Assessors normally use for assigning value to a kit car.

First time that I recall that the DMV is now assigning a value. Another possibility is to obtain from the Assessor the source the DMV is using for value to validate the $20,000.

[Albie]

Questioning DMVs source might be a double edged sword - if the actual value is used my taxes might triple or more! It would be more helpful to know if other CT towns recognize the $500 assessment for replicas that I believe the law provides for - can anyone give me the name of a town that does? I don't need anyone's name just the town and confirm your car is valued at $500. Thanks for your help!

[Cashburn]

How was the car registered? Did you submit for the proper inspection at the Wethersfield DMV lane? Or was another method used?

Easily answered by your VIN number... Does it start with CT?

[Albie]

I registered it in Wethersfield last year, went thru the full inspection - which was pretty straight-forward. Car number starts with CT. Do you know if any of your customers have their cars assessed at $500? If so, it would help my case to know which Towns their live in.

[Don]

Albie......the $20,000 assigned value by the DMV " might " be due to the make being ERA rather than Composite. In times past, years + ago, a DMV clerk that was familiar with kit cars would have changed any kit car including Cobra to Composite as the make. Unless the current practice has changed within the DMV.

Someone else with current knowledge could clarify the current DMV usage of Composite as the make for kit cars.

When the registration paperwork was submitted, was ERA or Composite used as the Make ?

DMV: Composite Vehicles

[Cashburn]

Come out to our group drive on Saturday and plenty of guys can tell you how their cars are being taxed.