Contributed photo
A vehicle formerly endemic by John Chaponis with a fake Maine license plate on it. The car was never registered in Maine, only Chaponis uses it to highlight the issue (Contributed photo)

HARTFORD, CT — The number of Connecticut vehicles registered in the land of Maine is growing, only the country of Connecticut has no idea how many of its residents are illegally registering their cars in other states.

Section of Motor Vehicles Deputy Commissioner Antonio Guerrera said they take no central database that would rails something similar that.

The Maine Secretarial assistant of Land's role reports that 1,457 Connecticut residents have registered their cars up north where information technology merely costs $35. In Connecticut, it costs $lxxx for two years plus some other $10 for the Make clean Air Human action fee and another $10 for the Passports to Park programme.

"We've got to stay competitive and that includes, you know, the cost of having a license hither in the state of Connecticut compared to other states," Gov. Ned Lamont said final week.

At the same time, he said information technology doesn't seem fair that residents are registering their vehicles in other states and using them in Connecticut.

"It's still tricky. You can't sit down around registering your machine out-of-state, using it here on a total-time basis," Lamont added.

It'south illegal, likewise, although the $1,000 penalty is rarely, if ever, enforced.

John Chaponis, tax assessor in Colchester, doesn't believe the registration fee is what'due south encouraging people to illegally register their vehicles in other states: It'southward the belongings taxes — a problem felt by local assessors and communities across the country.

The Full general Assembly created a 12-member task force this year to study compliance with the state's motor-vehicle registration laws. The chore strength besides must develop recommendations to forestall Connecticut residents from registering motor vehicles out-of-state. Information technology must submit a report with its findings and recommendations to the Transportation Committee past January 1.

Chaponis said while it's true that Connecticut's registration fee is higher than Maine's $35, the real fiscal savings come from avoiding the local property tax and many times, much lower insurance.

"I recently establish a Colchester resident that had a make-new truck and car both with Maine plates and also bearing a sticker showing the vehicle was purchased from our local auto dealer here in Colchester," Chaponis said "Afterwards investing pregnant man-hours in proving the vehicles were here on a daily ground, nosotros added the vehicles to the tax rolls and generated $ii,100."

He gets the temptation.

"Frankly, I think anyone would be tempted to register in Maine in gild to save $2,100 per twelvemonth.  Especially, if they feel that no one volition try to enforce the police," he added.

Guerrera said the Department of Motor Vehicles volition give the chore strength whatever resources it needs to complete its review.

New Connecticut residents accept but sixty days to drive on an out-of-state registration before it is no longer valid and accustomed.

Tax assessors tin put a person on the tax rolls if they have proof the vehicle is being driven in Connecticut. However, those efforts are labor-intensive.

Chaponis said he plant a criminal justice intern from Manchester Community College whose task it was to discover, listing and value motor vehicles in boondocks.

"While this practice brought in thousands of additional revenue enhancement dollars, information technology involved an enormous amount of human-hours from the intern and two employees in my office.  The residual effect was that we were non able to devote the appropriate amount of time discovering, listing and valuing of our Real Estate or our Personal Property Grand Lists."

Nonetheless, Colchester is assessing over i million dollars for vehicles non registered in Connecticut every bit a result of those efforts.  This number includes vehicles that have no registration at all and may be parked in someone'southward g.

He said few assessors have the resources to chase tax evaders this way.

"When you enforce the registration compliance, you kill two birds with one stone and information technology brings the vehicles back onto the Tax List," Chaponis said. "There has to be a better solution and a fair assistants of the local property tax has to become a primary goal."

Chaponis knows it's only a task forcefulness only he said "the Connecticut Association of Assessing Officers (CAAO) is hopeful that this newly created Chore Force will be able to address this form of revenue enhancement evasion that is mushrooming out of control."