Scofflaws get fair warning, given the ‘boot’ for taxes
April 15 is a particularly distasteful day for most Americans. It is the date one’s federal income taxes are to be paid. This year, due to April 15 falling on a Sunday and the next day being Patriot’s Day in Massachusetts, taxpayers in the Northeast get a two-day window of extra time to file their returns.
In West Haven, April 15 is the deadline the city gives its own scofflaw residents who owe city levies and fees and have not yet paid them. For the third time in recent memory, the city will institute a “Boot Program” to nudge taxpayers to get their taxes paid.
Announced last week, the program will “boot” vehicles owned by residents, and will use infrared scanners on license plates to see if any taxes are owed. Those found in arrears will have a boot affixed to a tire on the vehicle, making it impossible to move.
TaxServe Capital Services, LLC of Hartford is the administrating company, while Vioalert Systems, LLC of West Haven will be the operator. City Tax Collector Dorothy Chambrelli is urging those who owe taxes to check online to see what they owe before the April 15 deadline.
Taxpayers can go to www.cityofwestahaven.com and clicking on “Tax Collector” under the “Government” heading. They can see what they owe and pay online. They can pay their taxes at City Hall, 355 Main St., if that is more convenient.
The sad reality is many hundreds of taxpayers fail to pay up in the required time period for whatever reason. In a city as cash-strapped as West Haven, that shortfall can make a big difference.
No one likes the fact that any governmental organization has to employ coercion to get what it is owed, but the sad reality is some of us need these “reminders.” It is unfair to the rest of the taxpaying public that “renders unto Caesar” in a timely and responsible way.
There are days left before the program goes into effect. We urge those who believe they have back taxes to pay to get online and see what is owed, then get it paid.
If you have hardships, let the tax office know about the hardship and a plan of payment might be available. No one wants to make a bad situation worse, least of all the city government.
Paying taxes is a distasteful but necessary part of living in a civil society. Everyone must do their part for the system to work.
Electoral College kerfuffle a case of ignorance, silliness
Not again! We see some, including in our own state are attempting to get rid of the Electoral College and go to a straight majority vote in Presidential elections. Such calls are, quite frankly, results of ignorance, and lack of understanding of how the Constitution came to be and was ratified.
Yes, it is true Hillary Clinton received 3 million more votes than Donald Trump, mostly through California. But, Donald Trump won 30 states to Clinton’s 20. Therein is the essential difference.
The Electoral College, which was supported by Connecticut’s own delegation to the Constitutional Convention, was meant assure that larger states did not dominate over smaller ones. In fact, the entire make up of Congress and the election of the Executive was constructed to prohibit such domination. Every state is in play for the presidency. Fifty elections are part of the process.
If one looks at it objectively – and those seeking majority rule in this case are only thinking of short-term political points – the system worked as constructed. Otherwise the wills of the majority of states would have been thwarted.
Connecticut has only 7 electoral votes, but it can be and has been “in play” over the course of our history. In a nation such as ours, the desires of what amounts to coastal elites should not overcome the desires of those living in the majority of states.
The Electoral College was a masterful compromise by the founders and works to balance the desires of all the states and regions of the country.
This most recent call for its elimination is based more on the ongoing temper tantrum of the nation’s elite media and liberal politicians and academics. They should be ignored as their opinions should not and cannot be tantamount to a moral high ground. They are just sore losers, pure and simple.