Trumbull Residents: How Will You Pay Your Tax Bill This Year?

How will you pay your tax bill(s) this year?

For folks who have a mortgage, many never see the tax bill for their homes.  It gets sent straight to the mortgage company to be paid from the escrow account.  But personal property tax bills on your car(s) or if you have a boat or a motorcycle are sent to your home.

You can take the bills to the Town Hall in person and give the nice folks in the Tax Collector's Office a check.  You can use the online payment system.  Or, you can mail in your tax payment.

If you mail in your payment (I do), will you send each tax payment for each bill in a separate envelope and put a stamp on each one?  If you have three cars at your address, will you send three different checks and put a new 46 cent stamp on each envelope?

No? Why not?  That's how the town sends them us.

Why not?  Because it would be a complete waste of money to do so.  You might argue that it's only 92 cents extra, plus the cost of the envelope and the extra time to send out three instead of one.  But most people are not going to throw away money, even when it is 92 cents.

Shouldn't the town do the same thing?  Other towns do it.  The current system embraces an unmitigated waste of taxpayer money.  When you multiply all those extra mailings times over 12,000 Trumbull homes, the waste is counted in many thousands of dollars, not pennies.  On Saturday, I received a first class mailing from the Tax Collector's Office which contained nothing but the First Selectman's brochure with his report to the taxpayers and other information from the town.  On Monday, I received the tax bill for one of cars in a separate envelope.  On Tuesday, I received the tax bill for our second car in a separate envelope.  All three envelopes were marked first class mail.  For folks who get their home tax bill sent, or have more than two cars, even more money is wasted.  When I lived in Shelton, everything came in one envelope, so I know it can be done. 

We also get a separate bill sent to us (or our mortgage company) for Fire Tax.  Although this tax is imposed by the Fire Districts and not the town, it might make sense to explore some synergies and efficiencies with the town there, too.

Regardless of what you think of forums like Trumbull Chat, Eye on Trumbull, the comments that are put on the Patch, etc.....

The forums are an important way to effect change in this Town.  Much of what has been advocated on these forums (and by the minority Democrats in their platform) has been effected by the Herbst administration.  I would seem to me that this is an issue that we can all get behind...Republicans, Democrats, everyone in between...no one will send separate envelopes back to the Tax Collector to pay their bills.  Let's stop sending them to Trumbull residents this way.  The town must set an example of efficiency for its taxpayers.  Right now, this is a blatant example of waste.

Thank you for reading.