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Board: state statute likely prevents town from eliminating motor-vehicle tax
Summary
Board members said a citizen petition asking to eliminate the car tax will be taken to selectmen, but one member said state statute offers no municipal mechanism to remove the motor-vehicle tax entirely.
Board members reviewed a citizen petition that would seek to eliminate the town’s motor-vehicle (car) tax and agreed the petition will be delivered to the Board of Selectmen for consideration. Committee member (S1) said there is no municipal mechanism under state statute to abolish the car tax and that any change would require legislative action or a different statutory path.
Members discussed distributional effects if the car tax were removed: staff and board members calculated the town would lose roughly $1 million in motor-vehicle revenue under current assessments, which would require offsetting property tax increases and likely shift burden onto homeowners, including many elderly residents with older vehicles.
