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Last Friday, Grey received a bill from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts regarding motor vehicle excise for Lenny. Thinking this was an error on Massachusetts end, I reached out today to correct the problem, naively assuming that it was just a matter of updating the information in their system.
Massachusetts is odd, given most of the tax structure happens at the town level. What this means is that resolving any issues means contacting an official in the town, having them communicate to the state (and county) any and all updates. This makes moving within the state interesting as none of this is advertised (all of it assumed) and requires a ton of paperwork to be completed in order to update each entity.
What I learned today, despite my marathon at the California DMV last spring (and transferring the title to California) is that Lenny was STILL registered in Massachusetts. Meaning they are now taxing us, even though the car is no longer titled and/or housed there.
No one told us that we needed to cancel the vehicle registration. Even more fun, there is contradictory information on the websites about how to do this.
So in between interviews today, I managed to beat the system and cancel Lenny's registration. Tomorrow involves double-checking where the tax abatement forms (and all the supporting documents) need to be sent, given this information is not clearly spelled out (and all of it is assessed). All the while working, once again, with a lawyer to deal with any potential threat of collections.
The silver lining in all of this is Grey and I still have the MA plates for Lenny; a bitter reminder of our time there (all rust on Lenny has been completely removed). Though we've been instructed to dispose of the plates, I'm leaning towards to include them in the packet going out tomorrow. A moment of release that can spark some joy in an otherwise frustrating situation.
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13 hours ago
I love your last sentence.
ReplyDeleteAnd oh, how you make me grateful for living in a small country with a much-easier-to-navigate bureaucracy!
Lol. I get that would be a very cathartic thing to do.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a dumb system, to be able to tax you in two localities at once. I"m glad you were able to straighten it out.
Oh, jeezum! How frustrating. I'm glad you were able to get around the situation and get Lenny rightfully existing ONLY in California. Massachusetts is so weird. I swear they have policies meant just to trap you into funding things. And how cool that all rust has been removed? I'm always amazed when I visit my Dad in L.A. how old the cars are, and how ageless they are, too. So much better than salt and rust. May there be more joy and less aggravation!
ReplyDeleteLove your last sentence too! Isn't moving a pain?? All these little details. I didn't realize it was my responsibility to inform city hall we were moving (I thought the lawyer's office would do that). As a result, we got billed for another month's worth of property taxes on our house, shortly after we moved into our condo When I called them, they cancelled further payments but said they couldn't do a refund, I'd have to take that up with the new owners... you know, the ones who had been such a total pain in the you-know-what, right up to the moment when we handed over the keys. I called our lawyer, who called their lawyer, who assured us a cheque would be forthcoming. That was almost three years ago... I'm still waiting...!
ReplyDelete