CT HB 5164 & 5405 Update
 

From a 4C's update. It is expected the taxing concept and antique designation from 20 to 30 years in HB 5405 will be reintroduced in the next legislative session.

" House Bill 5164, which proposed to eliminate the use of year of manufacture plates along with many other items related to the Department of Motor Vehicles, was amended to delete the section of the bill eliminating the use of Year of Manufacture Plates. The amended version of the bill passed both the House and the Senate, became Public Act 12-81 and was signed by the Governor on June 6th. As such, the use of Year of Manufacture Plates will continue to be allowed in Connecticut."

" House Bill 5405, which proposed to introduce a state wide mill rate on all motor vehicles, raise the maximum property tax assessed value of an antique car from $500 to $2500, and increase the age of an antique car from 20 to 30 years made it to the house floor, but was never voted on. As such, the bill was defeated for 2012. "

Wow, is Connecticut broke too?

When the increased assessed valuation of an antique auto registration was first proposed, the rationale used was to raise the amount assessed to represent 2011/2012 dollars, considering inflation over the years. Don't have the year the $500 assessment was first used nor the compounded inflation formula used to equate $500 in year X to $2500 in 2012.

It's been awhile, but if I remember correctly, if a vehicle is not registered as an antique, then the assessed value is the standard valuation used by the Assessors, i.e. HB5405 only applied to vehicles registered as an antique.

The real kicker in CT is that for a kit or composite vehicle the year the CT VIN is assigned is the year that is used for the manufactured year. So my cobra had a VIN assigned in 2012, thus it is registered as a 2012.

I was further told that a composite vehicle that was previously registered in another state as a 1965 would be reregistered in CT by VIN assignment date.

I am not sure where that leaves me for emmisions testing, If a composite vehicle is exempt or not.

Composites are exempt from emission testing, but note the Make on the registration must be Composite

CT Emissions Program - When Do I Get Tested - Exempt Vehicles

As far back as I recall, the year registered as always been the Model Year. I am the 2nd owner and my Cobra when purchased was legally registered and titled as a 1965 in another state. However, this may have recently changed if the legislation allowing Model Year for kits that "closely resemble " the original was passed, just don't recall. If so, was not to be retroactive, just for new registrations.

Thanks, Don. That helps. I am registered as a 2012 "Composite" so I should be OK. They were fairly vague at the DMV about the subject which had me wondering where it would end up.

jualwatt, I registered my Cobra prior to the emission exemption and had to pass emission testing prior to registering, so if you have your registration your all set. You should not receive the emission testing reminder which compares to the Make name of Composite when determining to send the reminder.

Without any criticism, it would not be unusual for a DMV individual not to be familiar with the details of registering and emission testing a Composite, since there are so few registered. If I recall correctly, back in 2007 there were approx 300 to 500 Composites registered, which includes all types of " kit " cars , not just the Cobra

Just curious, when you filled out the registration forms, did you indicate the model year as 2012 or 1965 or 1966 ? Or did the DMV insert or change to 2012 ? Hopefully, someone that has more recent experience and knowledge will clarify on model year registration, the year the vehicle most closely resembles.

When I registered I filled the paperwork out as a 1965 Composite which was consistent with all the DMV inspection and VIN paperwork from Weathersfield. I was looking to register as EA status with antique plates. The Clerk at the DMV (New Britain) insisted it be changed as it had to match the VIN assignment date, which I questioned. This prompted her to get the supervisor involved who confirmed that the VIN assignment date was to be used.

When I mentioned earlier that a vehicle coming from another state that was previously registered as a 1965 would be re-registered as the CT VIN assignment date, It was the DMV clerk who told this to me.

jualwatt:

The following was provided by a contact at the 4C's. If you PM me your e-mail address. I can forward the entire reply. In the past, some have mentioned they bring with them the actual sections of the Bill ( Public Act ) as documentation for the DMV to register the Cobra as a 1966. Do not know what the success is in having the Model Year changed after the registration has been issued. But if you do attempt a Model Year change, having registered the Cobra after the Bill was passed ( 2009 ) might hopefully be in your favor.

" Public Act 2009-0187 (2009 Senate Bill 1081) made the changes that should allow a composite vehicle be registered as the model year it most closely resembles "

As Don has highlighted, a copy of the bill in hand should yield a 1965 model year registration. When a DMV clerk and supervisor are wrong you must ask for your paperwork back and travel to another office. This is from over 50 DMV visits in the last 3 or so years.

You cannot argue or make sense, you must simply move along...

My understanding on emissions is that it was based on the year of the engine block. Thus my 1969 block just needs the pvc valve required in 69 and is exempt from testing. Like to know if this is right. thanks

Don,

Sent you a PM as suggested above

Note that the Make on the registration has to be Composite, if you are referring to a kit car

CT Emissions Program - When Do I Get Tested - Exempt Vehicles

Composite Vehicles (Effective July 1, 2007) (vehicle must be registered as a composite vehicle).

Standard factory production vehicles:

A motor vehicle twenty five-years old or older, (C.G.S. 14-164c © “twenty-five or more years ago” shall mean the number of years arrived at by subtracting the model year of the motor vehicle seeking the exemption from the current calendar year).

Update for everyone's benefit (in CT):

Just got back from the New Britain DMV office where I originally registered my Cobra. Walked in and explained the situation and was taken to the manager right away. It Definitely helped to have a copy of the CT statutes that stated that for the purpose of registration a composite vehicle the year of the vehicle shall be the model year which it most closely represents (I am paraphrasing, but this is close). She looked at both statutes (highlighted to make it easy) plus my original application (where 1965 had been crossed out and replaced with 2012) and disappeared for 5 minutes. When she returned she said, that yes it was their error and should be registered as a 1965.

So back to the line I went, but the clerk who originally helped me before called me over at her next available slot and took care of the paperwork immediately. I now have EA tags (Early American or "antique") to put on the car and updated registration to match.

The next issue was that the title paperwork had already been sent to Wethersfield for processing and was told I would need to talk with them directly to straighten out the issue. I called the title office and after a 30 minute wait spoke to someone. She tracked down the title paperwork, asked me a couple of questions on the new registration (there were a few pauses where she must have involved someone else), and finally told me I was all set and should see the corrected title in about two weeks.

I will say that everyone I spoke with at both DMV offices were very pleasant to deal with and very helpful. I am sure partly because I was very nice about it as well.

So there you have it, a composite vehicle in the state of Connecticut is registered as the year of the vehicle it most closely resembles.

Thank you Don for all of your help with this process and pointing out the relative DMV statutes.

Julian

Julian.....sure nice to see a favorable conclusion

" Thank you Don for all of your help with this process and pointing out the relative DMV statutes. "

Credit goes to the " 4Cs contact " that researched the Bill regarding kit car registrations, which I then forwarded to Julian.

Thanks to all involved! It really made my day!

This should help others in CT, but if in another state these forums are a fantastic source of information.

Julian

I had the opposite take place. I let my '2008 composite' registration run out and returned the plates to New Briatin DMV. When I tried to register it as a 1966 and asked for a vintage plate they told me 'No', it had to be registered as a 2008 (the year the DMV inspected it and assigned a VIN). I then went to Weathersfield and had the same take place, absolutely no provision to register it as a 1966. I hear these stories, but I knocked myself out for two days and still had to concede to their 'rules'. They all say they "never heard of such a thing".

RE: Public Act 2009-0187 (2009 Senate Bill 1081)

The legislation to register as the year the vehicle most closely resembles was passed in 2009. The DMV had previously ruled that the provision was not retroactive to registrations prior to the Bill's effective date due to the absence of wording in the Bill specifically mentioning. Hence, the interpretation " might " be the Bill did not apply to a 2008 VIN

" 'No', it had to be registered as a 2008 (the year the DMV inspected it and assigned a VIN) "

" They all say they "never heard of such a thing".

One possibility is to do what Julian did, bring a copy of the Bill with you indicating the provision in the Bill for model year registration, which may or may not be accepted. Seeing Julian went to the New Britain DMV, they would have current experience.

ZEORA-SC7XX,

That is exactly what they told me 3 weeks ago when I initially registered and was told it had to be registered as a 2012 As that was the VIN assignment date. When I returned this past Friday with copies of the relevant statutes, There was not much more they could say other than a call to verify what I was showing them.

They are well versed in New Britain now (as of this past Friday) if you were to try it again. I would have a copy of the statutes in hand, however, just in case.

If you send me a PM with e-mail, I can point out the correct chapter and sections to print.

We have a 2009 registration. when I asked about letting the registration expire and then re registering it, I was told the vin date takes precedence, so it would remain a 2009. This was in Saybrook.