Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Tax Enforcement topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Assessor says license-plate scanning has recovered $755,000 but warns state bill could curtail the program
Summary
Danbury's assessor told the ad hoc budget committee the city's contractor-driven license-plate scanning program has generated $755,000 in recoveries since inception and typically adds $20,000–$30,000 monthly; she said pending state legislation could 'decimate' the program without an amendment to allow assessors to retain necessary information.
Donna Murphy, the city's assessor, described a third‑party license-plate scanning program the assessor's office uses to identify vehicles tied to addresses for tax assessment. Murphy said the program has produced about $755,000 in recovered revenue "since inception," that the underlying process from plate scan to bill takes roughly five months, and that the city is currently seeing about $20,000–$30,000 in additional collections per month. "If we $25,000 a month, I would say minimum $300,000 is a safe number," Murphy told the committee when asked for a conservative projection.
Murphy explained the vendor workflow: the contractor scans license plates, flags vehicles seen at a location more than three times, researches ties to an address (including credit‑report checks), sends certified letters asking residents to justify occupancy and, if there is no sufficient response, adds the property to the grand list for tax billing. The assessor confirmed that the contractor receives a share of collections: "They get 40% of any revenue that we collect," Murphy said.
The assessor warned that pending state legislation to restrict automatic license-plate reader use could severely limit the program's utility for tax assessment. Murphy said she has worked with the assessors' association, local lobbyists and state legislative staff to draft amendment language that would allow assessors to retain necessary records for assessment purposes and to mandate deletion after tax billing, but she said the amendment still needs to pass through committee. "This program is gonna go away" without the change, Murphy said, urging local officials to contact legislators if needed.
Council members welcomed the revenue but asked about vendor dependence and data retention. Murphy said the assessor's office lacks the staffing and tools to replicate the work internally and that the vendor model remains the most practical option for now.
