Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com • February 10, 2020 • Hartford Business Journal 21 she said. "I'm one of those people who is constantly squeezed." "We have three young mouths to feed and the payment plan is very helpful," she added. Linehan said she thinks DRS should not identify individuals as delinquent taxpayers if they are adhering to a payment plan because it may hurt their job or other economic prospects. She said she has written a letter to the Finance Committee urging a tweak to state law that she believes is not honoring the intent and spirit of the payment program. "Ultimately, I think it's important that anything we do in this state be represented truthfully in our records," she said. There are currently 13,390 active payment plans in process, according to DRS. Largely any delinquent taxpayer can qualify for a payment plan, unless they have ongoing litigation or a criminal case with DRS. If an individual has a debt under $10,000 and can pay it off within a year, they can apply online for a payment plan. Larger debts require delinquent taxpayers to talk to a col- lection agent to work out a plan. "Our goal is not to create terms of a payment plan individuals can't keep," said acting DRS Commission- er John Biello. "It doesn't do us any good to make the terms so stringent and the payment so great that it's gonna be broken. We're keeping the interest of both parties in mind." If a payment agreement is breached, DRS could create a new plan for the taxpayer or take harsher action. "There comes a time we have to elevate the ac- tion to a higher consequence such as a bank warrant or a wage garnish- ment or things of that nature," Biello said. Repayment plans differ from amnesty pro- grams, which have been adopt- ed by state law- makers in recent years as a way to raise money to help balance the budget. The last one was the Fresh Start program, which kicked off in 2017 and ran through Nov. 2018, raising $93 million, Biello said. Other delinquent taxpayers Several lawmakers contacted by HBJ said they were unaware of their debts and paid them almost instantly. They include: • Sen. Gary Winfield (D-New Haven), a chief deputy majority leader who owed $1,895.97. He provided a bank statement showing he paid the debt. • Rep. Christopher Rosario (D- Bridgeport), a chief majority whip who owed $363.02. Rosario's press aide said he'd take care of the matter right away, but no follow-up evi- dence was provided to HBJ. Meanwhile, State Rep. David Michel (D-Stamford) owed $431.39 as of Jan. 4, but he paid that debt off on Jan. 12, before being contacted by HBJ. DRS officials confirmed, with Michel's permission, that to be the case. Michel said he spends a lot of time on the road between Stamford and Hartford, and can sometimes fall behind on reading his mail. "There's no other reason for me not to pay my taxes," Michel said. "Espe- cially being an elected official, it's not something I want on my record." A spokesman for Rep. Noreen Ko- koruda, a Republican from Madison, said she was unaware of her $620.65 debt and will repay it. Kokoruda is facing other financial challenges as her Madison home is currently in foreclosure, state court records show. Rep. Stephen G. Harding (R-Brook- field), who owes $17.09, didn't return calls seeking comment. DRS tech upgrade will help tax-collection efforts With more than a half-billion dollars in delinquent taxes owed, the state Department of Revenue Services is always looking for new and improved ways to collect debt, according to acting Commissioner John Biello. That's why the agency is going through a technology modern- ization that Biello says "will improve the way our collectors work, streamline the process to collect debt, and introduce analytics and data mining into the process." "In other words," he added, "we will have a predictive model and it will tell us which debt our col- lectors need to pay attention to and which debt they don't need to pay attention to because the taxpayer, based on history, will typically self-cure." Phase one of the tech upgrade should be done by May, Biello said, and much of the collec- tion tools will be built by then. It is a four-year project so enhancements will be added in the future. "You will be able to begin to see results, particularly on the collection side, beginning this May," he said. The project's vendor is Fast Enterprises, which works with 30-plus state tax-collection agencies in the country. SPEAKERS TO BE ANNOUNCED TICKETS NOW ON SALE! SO MANY GREAT IDEAS, ONLY ONE PLACE TO TAKE IT ALL IN. GO TO HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM/HBJ-EVENTS CLICK ON 90 IDEAS IN 90 MINUTES TO REGISTER! GOLD SPONSOR: SILVER SPONSOR:

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