Connecticut General Statutes 14-33 – Renewal of registration denied for failure to pay motor vehicle property tax or fines for parking violations. Collection of delinquent property tax by commissioner. Issuance of temporary registrations by city, tow…
(a)(1) For assessment years commencing prior to October 1, 2024, if any property tax, or any installment thereof, laid by any city, town, borough or other taxing district upon a registered motor vehicle or snowmobile remains unpaid, the tax collector of such city, town, borough or other taxing district shall notify the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles of such delinquency in accordance with subsection (e) of this section and guidelines and procedures established by the commissioner. The commissioner shall not issue registration for such motor vehicle or snowmobile for the next registration period if, according to the commissioner’s records, it is then owned by the person against whom such tax has been assessed or by any person to whom such vehicle has not been transferred by bona fide sale. Unless notice has been received by the commissioner under the provisions of section 14-33a, no such registration shall be issued until the commissioner receives notification that the tax obligation has been legally discharged; nor shall the commissioner register any other motor vehicle, snowmobile, all-terrain vehicle or vessel in the name of such person, except that the commissioner may continue to register other vehicles owned by a leasing or rental firm licensed pursuant to section 14-15, and may issue such registration to any private owner of three or more paratransit vehicles in direct proportion to the percentage of total tax due on such vehicles which has been paid and notice of payment on which has been received. The Commissioner of Motor Vehicles may immediately suspend or cancel all motor vehicle, snowmobile, all-terrain vehicle or vessel registrations issued in the name of any person (A) who has been reported as delinquent and whose registration was renewed through an error or through the production of false evidence that the delinquent tax on any motor vehicle or snowmobile had been paid, or (B) who has been reported by a tax collector as having paid a property tax on a motor vehicle or snowmobile with a check which was dishonored by a bank and such tax remains unpaid. Any person aggrieved by any action of the commissioner under this section may appeal therefrom in the manner provided in section 14-134. For the purposes of this subsection, “paratransit vehicle” means a motor bus, taxicab or motor vehicle in livery service operated under a certificate of convenience and necessity issued by the Department of Transportation or by a transit district and which is on call or demand or used for the transportation of passengers for hire.
Terms Used In Connecticut General Statutes 14-33
- Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
- Commissioner: includes the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles and any assistant to the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles who is designated and authorized by, and who is acting for, the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles under a designation. See Connecticut General Statutes 14-1
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- month: means a calendar month, and the word "year" means a calendar year, unless otherwise expressed. See Connecticut General Statutes 1-1
- Motor bus: includes any motor vehicle, except a taxicab, as defined in section 13b-95, operated in whole or in part on any street or highway in a manner affording a means of transportation by indiscriminately receiving or discharging passengers, or running on a regular route or over any portion of a regular route or between fixed termini. See Connecticut General Statutes 14-1
- Motor vehicle: means any vehicle propelled or drawn by any nonmuscular power, except aircraft, motor boats, road rollers, baggage trucks used about railroad stations or other mass transit facilities, electric battery-operated wheel chairs when operated by persons with physical disabilities at speeds not exceeding fifteen miles per hour, golf carts operated on highways solely for the purpose of crossing from one part of the golf course to another, golf-cart-type vehicles operated on roads or highways on the grounds of state institutions by state employees, agricultural tractors, farm implements, such vehicles as run only on rails or tracks, self-propelled snow plows, snow blowers and lawn mowers, when used for the purposes for which they were designed and operated at speeds not exceeding four miles per hour, whether or not the operator rides on or walks behind such equipment, motor-driven cycles, as defined in section 14-286, special mobile equipment, as defined in section 14-165, mini-motorcycles, as defined in section 14-289j, electric bicycles, electric foot scooters and any other vehicle not suitable for operation on a highway. See Connecticut General Statutes 14-1
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- Operator: means any person who operates a motor vehicle or who steers or directs the course of a motor vehicle being towed by another motor vehicle and includes a driver. See Connecticut General Statutes 14-1
- Owner: means any person holding title to a motor vehicle, or having the legal right to register the same, including purchasers under conditional bills of sale. See Connecticut General Statutes 14-1
- Person: includes any individual, corporation, limited liability company, association, copartnership, company, firm, business trust or other aggregation of individuals but does not include the state or any political subdivision thereof, unless the context clearly states or requires. See Connecticut General Statutes 14-1
- Personal property: All property that is not real property.
- Registration: includes the certificate of motor vehicle registration and the number plate or plates used in connection with such registration. See Connecticut General Statutes 14-1
- State: means any state of the United States and the District of Columbia unless the context indicates a more specific reference to the state of Connecticut. See Connecticut General Statutes 14-1
- Vehicle: includes any device suitable for the conveyance, drawing or other transportation of persons or property, whether operated on wheels, runners, a cushion of air or by any other means. See Connecticut General Statutes 14-1
(2) For assessment years commencing on or after October 1, 2024, if any property tax, or any installment thereof, laid by any city, town, borough or other taxing district upon a motor vehicle remains unpaid, regardless of whether such motor vehicle is classified on the grand list as a registered motor vehicle or personal property pursuant to section 12-41, the tax collector of such city, town, borough or other taxing district shall notify the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles of such delinquency in accordance with subsection (e) of this section and guidelines and procedures established by the commissioner. The commissioner shall not issue registration for such motor vehicle for the next registration period if, according to the commissioner’s records, it is then owned by the person against whom such tax has been assessed or by any person to whom such vehicle has not been transferred by bona fide sale. Unless notice has been received by the commissioner under the provisions of section 14-33a, no such registration shall be issued until the commissioner receives notification that the tax obligation has been legally discharged; nor shall the commissioner register any other motor vehicle, snowmobile, all-terrain vehicle or vessel in the name of such person, except that the commissioner may continue to register other vehicles owned by a leasing or rental firm licensed pursuant to section 14-15, and may issue such registration to any private owner of three or more paratransit vehicles in direct proportion to the percentage of total tax due on such vehicles which has been paid and notice of payment on which has been received. The Commissioner of Motor Vehicles may immediately suspend or cancel all motor vehicle, snowmobile, all-terrain vehicle or vessel registrations issued in the name of any person (A) who has been reported as delinquent and whose registration was renewed through an error or through the production of false evidence that the delinquent tax on any motor vehicle had been paid, or (B) who has been reported by a tax collector as having paid a property tax on a motor vehicle with a check which was dishonored by a bank and such tax remains unpaid.
(b) (1) For assessment years commencing prior to October 1, 2024, notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles, in consultation with the Treasurer and the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, may enter into an agreement with the tax collector of any city, town, borough or other taxing district whereby the commissioner shall collect any property tax or any installment thereof on a registered motor vehicle which remains unpaid from any person against whom such tax has been assessed who makes application for registration for such motor vehicle.
(2) For assessment years commencing on and after October 1, 2024, notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles, in consultation with the Treasurer and the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, may enter into an agreement with the tax collector of any city, town, borough or other taxing district whereby the commissioner shall collect any property tax or any installment thereof on any motor vehicle which remains unpaid from any person against whom such tax has been assessed who makes application for registration for such motor vehicle.
(3) Any agreement entered into pursuant to subdivision (1) or (2) of this subsection shall include a procedure for the remission of taxes collected to the city, town, borough or other taxing district, on a regular basis, and may provide that a fee be paid by the city, town, borough or other taxing district to the commissioner to cover any costs associated with the administration of the agreement. In the event an agreement is in effect, the commissioner shall immediately issue a registration for a motor vehicle owned by a person against whom such tax has been assessed upon receipt of payment of such tax and a service fee of two dollars, in addition to the fee prescribed for the renewal of the registration.
(c) On and after March 1, 1989, any municipality may participate in a program administered by the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles to facilitate the payment of fines for parking violations. If any such municipality elects to participate in such program, it shall provide for a notice of violation to be served personally upon the operator of a motor vehicle who is present at the time of service. If the operator is not present, the notice shall be served upon the owner of the motor vehicle by affixing notice to said vehicle in a conspicuous place, or, in the case of the city of Hartford Parking Authority, by regular or certified mail to the registered owner of the vehicle, which shall have the same effect as if the notice of violation was personally served on the owner or operator of the vehicle. In the case of any motor vehicle that is leased or rented by the owner, not more than thirty days after the initial notice of a parking violation for which a fine remains unpaid at such time, a second notice of violation shall be mailed to the address of record of the owner leasing or renting the motor vehicle to such operator. No fines or penalties shall accrue to the owner of such rented or leased vehicle for the violation for a period of sixty days after the second notice is mailed. Upon receipt of such notification, the owner of such rented or leased vehicle may notify the municipality as to whom the lessee was at the time of such issuance of the notice of violation, the lessee’s address, motor vehicle operator’s license number and state of issuance, and the municipality shall issue such notice of violation to such lessee. A participating municipality shall notify the commissioner of every owner of a registered motor vehicle who has unpaid fines for more than five parking violations committed within such municipality on and after March 1, 1989. Upon receipt of such notification, the commissioner shall not issue or renew the motor vehicle registration of such person until he receives notification from such municipality that the delinquent fines have been paid.
(d) The provisions of subsection (c) of this section shall not apply to any person, firm or corporation engaged in the business of leasing or renting motor vehicles without drivers in this state with respect to any motor vehicle which is leased or rented. The commissioner shall adopt regulations, in accordance with chapter 54, to implement the provisions of subsection (c) of this section.
(e) The tax collector of a city, town, borough or other district shall, at least once during each calendar month, notify the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles of any outstanding delinquent property tax payment or installment thereof for a registered motor vehicle or snowmobile. If a tax collector fails to provide such notice to the commissioner, the commissioner shall not be required to deny the issuance of a registration, pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, to the person against whom such tax has been assessed by said city or town, or by a borough or other taxing district located therein.
(f) Any city, town, borough or other taxing district that notifies the commissioner of (1) a delinquency in accordance with subsection (a) of this section, or (2) an owner of a registered motor vehicle who has unpaid fines for more than five parking violations in accordance with subsection (c) of this section, may participate in a program to issue temporary registrations for passenger motor vehicles on behalf of the commissioner to persons whose registrations have been denied, and who subsequently make full payment to the city, town, borough or other taxing district for the amounts owed under said subsections. A participating city, town, borough or other taxing district shall issue such temporary registrations in accordance with subsection (i) of section 14-12 and shall retain the fees authorized in subsection (n) of section 14-49 for such registrations. The commissioner may adopt regulations in accordance with chapter 54 to carry out the provisions of this subsection.