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Council approves modified motor-vehicle depreciation schedule to mitigate $2M hit; several appointments and leases cleared
Summary
At its April 1 meeting the council authorized the tax assessor to adopt a modified motor‑vehicle depreciation schedule under state bill 7067 to limit a projected $2 million revenue loss; the body also confirmed appointments, approved the Danbury Music Center lease and created ad hoc committees on several items.
The Danbury City Council on April 1 authorized Tax Assessor Donna M. Murphy to apply a modified motor‑vehicle depreciation schedule authorized by Connecticut legislation (Bill 7067) effective for the listing and assessment periods cited by the state, a step the assessor said would mitigate an estimated $2 million revenue shortfall.
Donna Murphy presented numbers and a sampling of vehicle assessments, saying the city’s motor‑vehicle grand list was roughly $838 million and that motor‑vehicle taxes generated about $20.48 million under the existing approach. She told council members that adopting the local option to modify the depreciation schedule (moving assessments toward a 90% starting point under the locally adopted schedule) would increase the motor‑vehicle assessment roll and reduce the projected revenue loss municipalities otherwise face under the state statute.
"All this does is allow municipalities to mitigate the losses on the statute," Murphy said, adding that, based on sample vehicles, most vehicle owners would see small changes (the assessor cited samples showing increases on some higher‑value vehicles of roughly $40 in motor‑vehicle tax liability), while not adopting the change would shift the burden to real‑estate taxpayers through higher mill rates.
Council members asked for clarifications about the size of the vehicle roll (Murphy said the assessor’s office tracks roughly 79,000 vehicles) and the timeframe for republishing the grand list; the motion authorized the assessor to adjust and republish the 2024 grand list by the April 15, 2025 statutory deadline and conformed the city’s approach with state law. The council approved the resolution by voice vote.
Other council actions at the meeting included: confirming Wayne A. Skelly as zoning‑violation hearing officer; reappointing Kaye Schreiber to the Commission on Aging; accepting renewal terms of the Danbury Music Center lease (with language clarifications about basement use and a five‑year term under the city’s new lease standard); and creating a series of ad hoc committees to vet ward‑boundary amendments and a proposed school-bus violation detection ordinance. The council also voted to go into executive session to discuss two tax‑appeal litigation matters.
Next steps: the assessor will implement the modified schedule and republish the grand list as authorized; ad hoc committees will meet and public hearings will be scheduled for referred ordinances and capital items.
