A posting in a social media group for Bethel residents has racked up a lot of comments and drawn a reaction from outgoing First Selectman Matt Knickerbocker. A new resident who visited a few times over the last couple of years says he changed his car registration to Bethel after he moved, but received a letter from the tax assessor’s office claiming that the company they hired, Municipal Tax Services, had photographic evidence that he spent an inordinate amount of time in Bethel in 2020 and 2021 and owed taxes. He was reportedly asked to provide proof of New York residency.
Knickerbocker responded to comments noting that to date the third party firm has registered over 700 vehicles that had skipped out on the local vehicle tax. He claims they are not people just visiting or recently moved to Bethel. That represents over $120,000 in revenue.
He wrote that MTS was hired to conduct vehicle tax audits in response to hundreds of complaints over the last few years from residents seeing out of state vehicles around town. Knickerbocker says he can't comment on this particular case as he does not know any specifics.
