Politics & Government

Tax Bills Issued; Due Date Extended

First-quarter payments on fiscal 2013 taxes are due Aug. 24, Mayor Joseph Polisena explained.

 

was inundated with calls last week from taxpayers looking for clarification on their new bills, Mayor Joseph Polisena explained during an interview yesterday.

"Many of the concerns were the valuations of the vehicles, but it says right on there that the town doesn't control [car values] — the bottom line is that the General Assembly is the one who voted to put the car tax back on the cities and towns [in 2010]," Polisena said.

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Among the notices included in the tax mailing was a flyer printed in large, red uppercase type, which explained that "assessment values are established by the State of Rhode Island Vehicle Value Commission — not the Town of Johnston" [emphasis in original].

Polisena also said that the explanation of how their car taxes are calculated in the tax bills caught some people by surprise.

Find out what's happening in Johnstonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"The other thing was, a lot of people don't realize that they have to pay taxes for the amount of days that the car was registered to them," Polisena noted.

So, for example, several callers mentioned that they had sold cars during fiscal 2012 — and understood that they weren't getting taxes for owning the vehicles for 365 days, the mayor recalled.

"I understand their concerns, and they have every right to call and check," Polisena stated. "It's been good — I think people are very pleased there's been no tax increase."

Following the town council's vote on June 18 to for fiscal 2013, this year's tax bills went out about a month later.

The mailers included a note from Polisena that outlined many of the factors that went into the budget — most notably the fact that the new spending plan does not require a tax increase this year.

"They really enjoyed that letter," the mayor said.

Another flyer in the tax bill mailing also noted that Polisena moved the due date for first-quarter payments to Aug. 24.

"They went out late [and] we don't want people panicking," Polisena explained.

Overall, Polisena said the tone from taxpayers — particularly after they've had their questions answered — has been positive.

"It's been very smooth. People are coming in, they're extremely happy," explained Polisena. "No one wants to send out a tax bill, but you've got to run the town."


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