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West Hartford

Motor Vehicles

Pursuant to Connecticut General Statutes §12-71 motor vehicles are considered chattels that “…shall be listed for purposes of property tax in the town where such person resides..."or where businesses have “…established site for conducting the purposes for which it was created.” In other words the town your motor vehicle most frequently leaves from and returns to is the town in which your vehicle will be assessed for property tax purposes.

There are two different motor vehicle Grand Lists (Regular and Supplemental). Any vehicle registered with Connecticut DMV on October 1st of any given year will be valued on the Regular Grand List for a full year. A full year is from October 1st of one year through September 30th of the following year. Any vehicle registered with Connecticut DMV after October 1st will be valued on the Supplemental Grand List beginning the month in which the vehicle was acquired through September 30st.

The schedule for motor vehicle values is provided by the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management.  As Assessors we are required to use the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) pricing guidelines. All pricing is based upon the NADA books that are published in October (the beginning of the Assessment Year) and we take 70% of the indicated clean retail value to arrive at assessments. Our pricing is based upon the year, make and model of the vehicle. 

If a vehicle is no longer in your possession or is registered out-of-state and documentation is provided within 27 months of the October 1st. Grand List date, your vehicle assessment may be adjusted.  Please see our motor vehicle brochure (available in spanish) for a list of what we consider appropriate documentation. 

The following are answers to our most common FAQ's pertaining to motor vehicles.