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City awaits tax deadline to determine losses

Nearly $2 million behind in collections

WARREN — City Auditor Vince Flask on Wednesday told council the city is nearly $2 million behind in tax collections compared to this time last year.

While much of the losses are expected to be addressed when residents finally turn in their 2019 income taxes, Treasurer Tom Letson said the unknown is the losses experienced by the city because of the nearly two-and-a-half months that businesses were shut down or had scaled back operations because of the governor’s stay-home order prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

As of Thursday, the city has collected $10,180,634 in all income taxes, according to Letson.

“The majority of businesses that file taxes with the city are on pace to their normal filings,” Letson said. “It is the individual taxpayers that have not filed. When the federal government moved its filing deadline from April 15 to July 15, many filers did not file their taxes.”

Because the filing deadline is in mid-July, Tom Gaffney, the city’s tax administrator, does not expect the city to have a firm grasp on where it is as far as its budget until sometime later that month or mid-August.

“We’re hearing the federal government may be considering extending the tax deadline another month,” Gaffney said.

Letson said tax collection during January and February was great and actually ahead of schedule.

“However, in March, it was like someone had blew the air out of the tires,” Letson said. “In April, it was like someone stole the tires.”

Gaffney emphasized that taxes still are being filed, but at a much slower rate.

“We are about 16 percent behind in tax collections,” Gaffney said.

Although the city income tax office is closed to residents, they can drop off their tax information to its drop box on the third floor at 258 E. Market St.

“We still will help individual filers prepare their city income taxes,” Gaffney said. “They can drop off the material and we will help in their preparation.

“We will send a receipt, a refund or a bill,” he added.

Letson said the tax office lost one of its six workers to another city department.

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