TOWN COUNCIL MAJORITY OFFICE
ORDINANCE COMMITTEE
SEPTEMBER 15, 2008
PRESENT Chair Richard F. Kehoe, Councillors William P. Horan, Jr. and Donald H.
Pitkin
ALSO
PRESENT Mike Walsh, Finance Director
Peg Byrnes, Democrat Registrar of Voters
Mary Mourey, Republican Registrar of Voters
CALL TO ORDER
Chair Kehoe called the meeting to order at 5:50 p.m.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
July 14, 2008 Meeting
MOTION By Don Pitkin
seconded by Bill Horan
to approve the July 14, 2008 Ordinance Committee minutes.
Motion carried 3/0.
OPPORTUNITY FOR RESIDENTS TO SPEAK
None
OLD BUSINESS
Unclaimed Tax Refunds
The Committee reviewed the September 13, 2008 draft of an ordinance that increases the time period for taxpayers to apply for and receive a refund of real property taxes that they overpaid in the past. Current state law allows for refunds only for three years, unless the Town Council approves an ordinance extending that period beyond the three years to a maximum of fifteen years. The September 13, 2008 draft creates three separate taxpayer groups:
1. the oldest group from Grand List year 1991 through 2001 will simply need to file a claim form after notice from the town within ninety days of the receipt of that notice; they will not need to show proof of the overpayment. The Finance Director pointed out that we need to start at the Grand List year of 1992, rather than 1991, because of the state statute. This change will become the September 15, 2008 draft. The Finance Director also indicated that the oldest accounts that had a credit balance the town had already sent out certified mail and had received several requests for payment and a number of mail that had been returned unsigned.
2. the next group is taxpayers with credits from Grand List years 2002 through 2004: These are individuals who overpaid their taxes but their taxes are within the time period of seven years when people are supposed to keep their finance records. In this case, the town will send out a notice but the owner will have to prove that the property owner overpaid the property taxes; not, for example, the bank overpaid the property taxes but did not bill the mortgage holder for the overpayment.
3. the third group is individuals whose property taxes are within the current three year statute of limitations, that is the Grand List year of 2005 and moving forward. The future credits will be treated in the same manner, that is, if there is an unclaimed credit balance after three years, the town will send out a notice by certified mail to those individuals who have credit balances. Those individuals will have two additional years, for a total of five years from the date on which the property taxes were due, to file a claim form with the town and also show proof of payment. In each case, the property owner will hold the town harmless from any additional claims for that overpayment. Those claims would likely come from such person’s bank.
MOTION By Don Pitkin
seconded by Bill Horan
to send the September 15, 2008 draft of the Property Tax Overpayment
Refund ordinance to the Town Council for the purposes of setting a public
hearing date.
Motion carried 3/0.
NEW BUSINESS
Registrars of Voters Compensation
The Committee reviewed the September 13, 2008 draft of the Registrar of Voters salary ordinance. The Committee felt that the inclusion of the Registrar of Voters salary in ordinance would allow for a periodic review of those salaries so that there would not be a problem with the salary remaining the same for a number of years and the town facing a large increase in those salaries in order to make up for the erosion of those salaries due to inflation. The Committee agreed to amend the September 13, 2008 draft ordinance based on a similar process for the Mayor and other salaries in which the proposed increases over the next two years for the Registrars of Voters will be based on the inflation rate for the previous two years. Under this draft, the January 1, 2009 salary, which is when the newly elected Registrars of Voters
will take office, will be their current salary increased by the inflation rate of 2007. On January 1, 2010, the salary will be increased again based on the inflation rate for 2008. In addition, because there has been a delay in reviewing the Registrars of Voters salaries, such salaries, on January 1, 2010, will also be increased by an additional amount to equal a total salary of $20,000.00.
MOTION By Don Pitkin
seconded by Bill Horan
to send the September 15, 2008 draft of the Registrar of Voters salary
ordinance to the Town Council for the purposes of setting a public hearing
date.
Motion carried 3/0.
ADJOURNMENT
MOTION By Don Pitkin
seconded by Bill Horan
to adjourn (6:19 p.m.)
Motion carried 3/0.
cc: Town Council
Mayor Currey
Mike Walsh, Finance Director
Peg Byrnes, Democrat Registrar of Voters
Mary Mourey, Republican Registrar of Voters
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