City of New Haven Considering Contracting for County to Collect Taxes

By Sue Blesi

There was discussion at the New Haven City Council Monday night, July 12, about contracting with Franklin County for the collection of real estate and personal property taxes. It seems that New Haven is the last holdout, meaning all the other cities in the county have already contracted with the county for this service.

It would save a lot of time for the city collector and other city personnel during the November and December of each year and, to some extent, in January. The county would have a better collection rate because residents are required to have paid their personal property taxes in order to license their vehicles.

In addition, city taxes often get overlooked when people are buying and selling property in the city, which means the taxes are not always paid at the time of the sale. With the county performing this service, this should not happen.

No decision has been made on this issue because city stickers need to be included in the agreement and because an agreement has not been reached on what the county would be paid for this service.