Thomas MacMillan Photo
The alderman to the tax assessor: New Haveners should have the same burden of proof you have when it comes to settling their bills. The assessor to the alderman: You’re comparing apples and oranges.
That exchange, between city Assessor Bill O’Brien (pictured) and West Rock Alderman Darnell Goldson, came at Monday night’s Cit Hall meeting of the Board of Aldermen’s Tax Abatement Committee. It brought to the surface an ongoing controversy about whether the tax assessor was able to duck paying city taxes by signing an affidavit about where he lives — even as he bears down on citydwellers who claim they’ve been randomly overcharged without recourse.
For months, the Tax Abatement Committee has been probing the workings of the assessor’s office and the Board of Assessment Appeals amid complaints about incompetence and taxpayer mistreatment. Read stories about that here.
During a special workshop portion of Monday night’s meeting set aside for speaking with city tax officials, Goldson made things personal. He revisited this summer’s allegations that O’Brien has avoided taxes by registering several of his cars at his home in Southington. The question of whether he was actually living mainly at his New Haven home and not his one Southington was also raised.
In response to those charges, O’Brien signed an affidavit in August affirming his residency in New Haven.
If an affidavit was good enough for the city assessor, it should be good enough for taxpayers in similar situations, Goldson (pictured) argued on Monday evening.
He brought up the case of Michael Quoka, a West Havener who owns rental property in New Haven. Quoka appeared before the Tax Abatement Committee in July seeking relief from taxes he said he was asked to pay on cars that were seen at his New Haven property. Those cars — spotted by Bill O’Brien — didn’t belong to him, Quoka argued. But he couldn’t prove it because he didn’t see the cars himself and couldn’t determine who owned them.
The Board of Aldermen voted to forgive the taxes at its Oct. 4 meeting.
Why couldn’t Quoka have just signed an affidavit, like you did, stating that the cars weren’t his? Goldson asked O’Brien on Monday
O’Brien responded that Quoka’s situation is completely different from his. He said that while Quoka was dealing with a tax issue, O’Brien’s affidavit was part of an employment issue — to establish that, like other city department heads, he meets a requirement to live in New Haven.
What’s more, Quoka never responded to a request for information from the assessor’s office. With no response to a tax charge, the taxes are levied by default, O’Brien said.
Quoka was charged for several years of back taxes on the cars. It’s assumed in such situations that the cars have been garaged in the city for years, O’Brien said.
He said he personally investigated the case of the cars at Quoka’s property. “That was by me,” he said. “After two phone calls from the neighbors I went out.”
O’Brien said he saw the cars on the property on several occasions.
“How do you presume those cars are his?” Goldson asked. Quoka lives in West Haven and would obviously not park multiple cars in New Haven, Goldson said.
“With no evidence to the contrary,” O’Brien said. Quoka would not respond to requests for information and was very hostile, O’Brien said. “He would not cooperate in any way.”
“I might be hostile too,” Goldson said, if he had been told he had to prove cars that were no longer there did not belong to him.
Goldson later raised another example: A man now in his ward lived for three years in Hamden. The city tried to charge him car taxes for those three years.
He would have to provide proof that his car was in Hamden during those years, O’Brien said.
“Why can’t they just do an affidavit and say ‘I don’t live there, I live here’?” Goldson said. “Why can’t they have the same consideration you had?”
“It had nothing to to with motor vehicle taxes. It [the O’Brien affidavit] had to do with employment,” O’Brien said.
“Who watches the tax assessor?” Goldson said. “I’d like you to prove where your car is domiciled.”
“Come over my house anytime,” O’Brien responded.
It’s a double standard, Goldson (pictured) argued. Quoka had to prove with documents that the cars weren’t his.
“That’s a different issue,” O’Brien said. “Those vehicles were located there. It’s not the same thing at all.”
“Why can’t we make it as simple as possible?” and just have people sign affidavits, Goldson asked.
“If taxpayers don’t want these scofflaws to pay their fair share, that’s fine,” O’Brien said.
You’re making an assumption of guilt, Goldson said.
“Most taxpayers who call my office [to complain about untaxed cars stored in their neighborhoods] would require stronger proof than an affidavit,” O’Brien said. It’s really not too difficult to turn over a few simple documents to show cars aren’t yours, O’Brien said.
“I just think we’re asking more from taxpayers than the assessor is willing to do,” Goldson said after the meeting. “We should trust the citizens of the city like we do the assessor.”
We shouldn't be asking for a lessened burden of proof, but a reasonable consistently applied standard of proof (for both citizens and citizen employees of the city) .