Tax and

Tax and Assessment Information FOR YEAR 2007-2008 As a taxpayer, you may have questions about your taxes and how they are determined. This pamphlet is provided to answer some of those questions. More detailed information concerning specific assessment and tax questions can be obtained by contacting the Tax Collector at 860-928-9469 or the Assessor at 860-928-6929. Q. WHAT TYPES OF PROPERTY ARE SUBJECT TO LOCAL PROPERTY TAXES? Real Estate: All real property listed on the current grand list. Personal Property: Equipment, furniture and fixtures owned by businesses, unregistered motor vehicles, campers and horses. If you are a non-resident, and have personal property in town for three or more months of the year previous to October 1, 2006 is also taxable. Personal property unless a registered vehicle, can not be pro-rated. Motor Vehicles: All motor vehicles registered with the Department of Motor Vehicles. These vehicles are coded by tax town and the Assessor is provided a list of registered vehicles annually by the Department of Motor Vehicles. Q. HOW IS THE VALUE OF MY PROPERTY ARRIVED AT? Personal Property, other than registered motor vehicles, is assessed at 70% of its value, as determined by use of straight line depreciation, as of October 1, 2006. Real Property is assessed at 70% of its value as of October 1, 2005, the date of our last revaluation. Registered motor vehicles are required to be assessed at 70% of the average retail value, using NADA cost guides. Q. WHAT IF I RECEIVE A TAX BILL FOR A VEHICLE I NO LONGER OWN OR HAVE REGISTERED IN ANOTHER STATE? The motor vehicle tax bill you receive in July 2007 is based upon the registration of that vehicle as of October 1, 2006. With the proper proof, your motor vehicle bill may be deleted if disposed of prior to October 1, 2006 or pro-rated if disposed of between October 1, 2006 to August 31, 2007. “Disposed of” includes sold, destroyed, stolen or registered out of state and not replaced with another vehicle using the same license plate. Examples of Proper Proof: Copy of a bill of sale for the vehicle being taxed. Insurance report showing the vehicle was either destroyed or stolen and not recovered. Copy of an out-of-state registration for that vehicle showing date of original registration in another state. Plate receipt from the CT DMV showing return of plates. With the plate receipt, you must also present proof that you disposed of the vehicle. If you still have the vehicle, you are required by state statute to claim this vehicle as an unregistered vehicle on the personal property form that can be obtained in the Assessor’s office in September. Q. WHAT IF I GOT A NEW VEHICLE AND USED THE SAME PLATE? If you removed the plate from the previous vehicle and placed it on new vehicle, you do not have to do anything. The billing will follow that plate. If you did this after October 1, 2006, the bill that you receive in July 2007 will be on the old motor vehicle. In January you will receive a pro-rated tax bill on the new motor vehicle, with a pro-rated credit from the old motor vehicle applied to the new motor vehicle. Q. WHAT IF I HAVE LICENSE PLATES THAT I AM NO LONGER USING OR HAVE LOST? Any plates that are not being used should be returned to the Motor Vehicle Department as soon as possible. If the plates are not returned they keep them active for two or more years and send us the listing, creating another tax bill. If you cannot find the plates or they are vanity plates that you want to keep, write to the DMV and list them as being lost. Q. HOW SOON DO I HAVE TO CHANGE MY ADDRESS WITH THE DMV AFTER I MOVE? 1 Per DMV Regulation see Section 14-17A. A person holding a CT registration shall notify the DMV within 48 hours of any change in address. This notification should include his old address and his new address. Failure to give notice required by this section shall be an infraction. Q. WHAT IF I NO LONGER LIVE IN WOODSTOCK, BUT STILL LIVE IN CONNECTICUT AND I RECEIVE A MOTOR VEHICLE TAX BILL FROM WOODSTOCK? You pay the July, 2007 motor vehicle tax bill to the town you were residing in on October 1, 2006. If you did not change your address with the DMV please do so as soon as possible. (Forms are available in the tax office.) The DMV sends your motor vehicle listing to the town that is on the address of your registration, as of October 1, 2006. If the address is wrong, it will go to the wrong town and have to be transferred. We do not pro-rate between towns. Q. WHAT IF I FEEL MY PROPERTY ASSESSMENT IS NOT ACCURATE? If you think your property assessment is not accurate, you have the right to request the Assessor to review it. You also have the right to appeal your assessment to the Board of Assessment Appeals (BAA). The BAA meets in March. You must notify the BAA in writing by February 20th that you intend to appeal. Forms for this purpose are available from the Assessor’s office. The BAA also meets in September, for motor vehicle appeals only. Q. COULD I BE ELIGIBLE FOR ANY EXEMPTIONS? You may be eligible for one or more of the following exemptions: Veterans having served during a time of conflict. Spouse of a deceased veteran. Blind or disabled. M.V of active duty serviceperson stationed out of state. Forest / Farm / Open Space. Please contact the Assessor’s office at 860-928-6929 for more information. Q. ARE THERE ANY TAX RELIEF PROGRAMS FOR SENIOR CITIZENS OR FOR PEOPLE ON SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY? If you or your spouse are 65 years of age or older, or are disabled and live in your own home, you may be eligible for a tax credit through the elderly/disabled low income homeowners program (Homeowners Program). You must apply by May 15th to receive this benefit on your July bill. Homeowners can get more information on this program by contacting the Assessor’s office at 860-928-6929. Q. HOW IS THE TAX RATE ESTABLISHED? In June of each year, the budget is voted on by the taxpayers at the annual Town Meeting. If passed, the mill rate is usually set immediately following the meeting. The property tax rate is expressed in mills or thousandths of a dollar. This year’s tax rate (mill rate) is printed on your bill. Q. WHEN IS MY PAYMENT CONSIDERED LATE? Payments due July 1, 2007 must be received, or postmarked by August 1, 2007. Payments due January 1, 2008 must be received or postmarked by Feb. 1, 2008. By State Statute, failure to receive a tax bill does not exempt you from paying taxes or interest payments. If you do not receive a tax bill, contact the Tax Collector’s office and find out why. Q. HOW IS INTEREST FIGURED? If not paid by the August or February deadline, interest is charged at 1½ % per month from July 1st and January 1st respectively, with a minimum of $2.00 per bill. EXAMPLE: To figure interest due - payment made in August use 3% / September use 4½ % / October use 6% etc. REAL ESTATE AND PERSONAL PROPERTY TAX BILLS WITH TWO PAYMENTS ARE ONLY MAILED IN JULY. The Real Estate and Personal Property tax bills have two payment slips attached. One is for the July payment and one is for the January payment. Notices are put in the papers to remind you that the January payment is coming due. You should make a note on the calendar also. If you purchase real estate after July and did not receive a bill for the new property at the closing, please call for a copy of the bill for the January payment. No Real Estate or Personal Property bills are mailed in January. TAX PAYMENT INFORMATION NEEDED FOR FEDERAL AND STATE INCOME TAX. From January to April 15th each year, we get as many as 15-20 calls a day wanting information as to how much and when tax payments were made. Please try to keep those records available for your own information. If you really can’t find the information needed, please submit the request in writing, with a self-addressed stamped envelope. REAL ESTATE TAXES HELD IN ESCROW BY YOUR BANK OR FINANCE ORGANIZATION: 2 If your bank is holding escrow to pay your taxes, you may not receive a real estate tax bill. Many banks request the bills directly from our office. If you have escrow and receive a real estate bill, please forward it on to your bank for payment. DO YOU HAVE A SMALL BUSINESS THAT YOU OPERATE OUT OF YOUR HOME? Anyone engaged in a home occupation, in an attempt to profit, is mandated by the zoning regulations of the Town of Woodstock to acquire a Home Occupation Permit at a cost of $10.00. Permits may be obtained in the Building Office or call 860-928-2128 for more information. Any equipment, furniture, signs, etc. used for this home occupation may also be taxable as personal property and should be claimed on the personal property declaration available in the Assessor’s office in September. ARE YOU PLANNING TO TAKE OUT A BUILDING PERMIT? Woodstock has an ordinance that prevents anyone from obtaining a building permit if they have unpaid taxes on that property. The Building Official can override this ordinance if it is deemed to be emergency repairs necessary to protect the safety of the public or occupants. DO YOU THINK YOUR BILL NEEDS AN ADJUSTMENT? If you think your tax bill needs to be adjusted due to something you may have read in this brochure, or some other reason, please contact Tax office or Assessor’s office by July 15th with the necessary information so we have enough time to make the correction before the payment deadline. LAKE DISTRICTS Woodstock has three lake districts. Each district has its own tax collector. Please do not include the district tax in the same check as the town. The district tax collectors are listed below. Quassett Lake District Julie Corden P.O. Box 134 Woodstock, CT 06281 860-974-3197 Lake Bungee Tax District Carol Ryniewicz P.O. Box 231 Woodstock, CT 06281 860-974-2819 Witches Woods Tax District Rande Chmura 25 Crooked Trail Woodstock, CT 06281 860-974-1354 DROP BOX If you cannot make it into the office during business hours listed on the front of this brochure, we have a drop box in front of the Town Hall for your convenience. You can use this to make payments or drop off any other forms needed for any office in the building. We check it daily. The Town of Woodstock website: www.woodstockCT.gov Email for the offices: Tax Collector: taxcollector@woodstockCT.gov Town Clerk: townclerk@woodstockCT.gov Assessor’s Office: assessor@woodstockCT.gov Treasurer’s Office: treasurer@woodstockCT.gov Selectmen’s Office: selectmen@woodstockCT.gov Building Office: buildingofficial@woodstockCT.gov 3