East Haven Frustrated By Businesses And People Who Aren't Paying Their Taxes

By Jack Kramer, Correspondent

EAST HAVEN, CT – People and businesses who continue to fail to pay taxes was the subject of a lengthy and frustrating conversation of the Town Council at its June meeting.

The town is owed nearly $360,000 in back motor vehicle and personal property taxes going back over 15 years that they have not been able to recover.

The money owed includes:

• 2006: $17,415.67 (personal property);
• 2005: $38,619.84 (personal property);
• 2004: $40,979.16 (personal property);
• 2003: $35,178.49 (personal property);
• 2002: $423.75 (personal property);
• 2002: $185.77 (motor vehicle);
• 2004: $37.00 (motor vehicle);
• 2005: $144.58 (motor vehicle);
• 2006: $466.59 (motor vehicle);
• 2007: $493.96 (motor vehicle);
• 2009: $582.97 (motor vehicle); \
• 2011: $43.02 (motor vehicle);
• 2014: $176,231.40 (motor vehicle);
• 2015: $4,122.72 (motor vehicle)

Tax Collector Lucille Huelin said the property is mostly from businesses “that no longer exist and haven’t in quite some time.”

She said her department has done “everything it possibly can to collect but some cases the owners are deceased or there is no longer a business.”

Councilmen expressed frustration that many people on the list are people that they know, and in some cases, they said, some even worked for the town or state and are currently full pensions.

Huelin told the council the good news is that the town does still collect about 97 percent of the tax it is owed. The amount not being collected, she said, is turned over to the Rossi law firm, which goes after the tax scofflaws – getting a percentage of the amount of money it is able to recover.

She said she would redouble her office’s efforts to go after the funds the town is owed.