2015 Connecticut General Statutes
Title 12 - Taxation
Chapter 204 - Local Levy and Collection of Taxes
Section 12-162 - Alias tax warrant. Service of warrants upon financial institutions. Request for information.

(a) Any collector of taxes, in the execution of tax warrants, shall have the same authority as state marshals have in executing the duties of their office, and any constable or other officer authorized to serve any civil process may serve a warrant for the collection of any tax assessed or any water or sanitation charges imposed, and the officer shall have the same authority as the collector concerning taxes or water or sanitation charges committed to such officer for collection.

(b) (1) Except as provided in subdivision (2) of this subsection, upon the nonpayment of any property tax or any water or sanitation charges when due, demand having been made therefor as prescribed by law for the collection of such tax or such water or sanitation charges, an alias tax warrant may be issued by the tax collector, which may be in the following form:

“To a state marshal of the County of ...., or any constable of the Town of .... Greeting: By authority of the state of Connecticut you are hereby commanded to collect forthwith from .... of .... the sum of .... dollars, the same being the amount of a tax or water or sanitation charges, with interest or penalty and charges which have accumulated thereon, which tax was levied or which water or sanitation charges were imposed by (insert name of town, city or municipality laying the tax or imposing the water or sanitation charges) upon (insert the real estate, personal property, or both, as the case may be,) of said .... as of the .... day of ..... (In like manner insert the amount of any other property tax or other water or sanitation charges which may have been levied or imposed in any other year, including interest or penalty and charges which have accumulated thereon). In default of payment of said amount you are hereby commanded to levy for said tax or taxes or such water or sanitation charges, including interest, penalty and charges, hereinafter referred to as the amount due on such execution, upon any goods and chattels of such person and dispose of the same as the law directs, notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (j) of section 52-352b, and, after having satisfied the amount due on such execution, return the surplus, if any, to him; or, except as otherwise provided in section 12-162, you are to levy upon the real estate of such person and sell such real property pursuant to section 12-157, to pay the amount due on such execution; or you shall, in accordance with the provisions of section 12-162, make demand upon the main office of any financial institution indebted to such person, subject to the provisions of section 52-367a or 52-367b, as if judgment for the amount due on such execution had been entered, for that portion of any type of deposit to the credit of or property held for such person, not exceeding in total value the amount due on such execution; or you are to garnishee the wages due such person from any employer, in the same manner as if a wage execution therefor had been entered, in accordance with section 52-361a.

Dated at .... this .... day of .... A.D. 20.., Tax Collector.”

(2) Notwithstanding any provision of the general statutes, an alias tax warrant shall not be issued by a tax collector to levy upon the real estate of any person and sell such real estate pursuant to section 12-157 solely for the purpose of collecting any water or sanitation charges.

(c) Any officer serving an alias tax warrant pursuant to this section shall make return to the collector of such officer’s actions thereon within ten days of the completion of such service and shall be entitled to collect from such person the fees allowed by law for serving executions issued by any court. Any state marshal or constable, authorized as provided in this section, who executes such warrant and collects any delinquent municipal taxes or water or sanitation charges as a result thereof shall receive, in addition to expenses otherwise allowed, a percentage of the taxes or the water or sanitation charges collected pursuant to such warrant, calculated at the rate applicable for the levy of an execution as provided in section 52-261. The minimum fee for such service shall be thirty dollars. Any officer unable to serve such warrant shall, within sixty days after the date of issuance, return such warrant to the collector and in writing state the reason it was not served.

(d) With regard to warrants served upon financial institutions, a collector of taxes or serving officer shall not serve alias tax warrants relating to one taxpayer on more than one financial institution at a time, including copies thereof, and after service on one financial institution, shall not serve the same alias tax warrants or copies thereof upon another financial institution until receiving confirmation from the preceding financial institution that the taxpayer had no funds at the preceding financial institution available for collection. If the collector of taxes or serving officer does not receive, not later than twenty days after the service of the warrant or service of a request for information pursuant to subsection (e) of this section, a response from the financial institution that was served indicating whether or not the taxpayer has funds at the financial institution available for collection, the collector of taxes or serving officer may assume that the taxpayer has no funds at that financial institution available for collection and may serve another financial institution in accordance with this subsection.

(e) With regard to warrants to be served upon financial institutions, whenever a tax collector expects to serve, or have an officer serve, more than fifteen tax warrants upon a particular financial institution on a given day, prior to such service, the tax collector or serving officer shall serve upon such financial institution a request for information which complies with subsection (f) of this section. No warrant may be served upon a financial institution with respect to a particular taxpayer unless the financial institution, in a recent response to a request for information, has indicated that the financial institution is indebted to such taxpayer. A tax collector or serving officer may, at the collector’s or officer’s option, serve a request for information pursuant to this subsection even if not required by this subsection. In such a case, the tax collector or serving officer shall comply with the requirements of this section relating to requests for information, and the financial institution shall respond in the same manner as though the request for information is required by this subsection. For purposes of this subsection, a response is considered recent if the warrant is served not later than one hundred eighty days after the date such response is received.

(f) The request for information required by subsection (e) of this section shall be served upon the financial institution in accordance with subsection (g) of this section and shall include (1) the name and last-known address of each taxpayer who is the subject of a warrant desired to be served by the tax collector or serving officer, (2) the address to which the response can be mailed or delivered or a facsimile number to which the response may be transmitted, (3) in the case of a request transmitted via facsimile by a serving officer, the name, address, judicial district, badge number and telephone number of the officer serving the request, and (4) a statement in substantially the following form:

“To (insert name of financial institution): In accordance with Section 12-162 of the General Statutes of the State of Connecticut, you are hereby commanded to report to (insert name of town or serving officer), at the address or facsimile number specified in this request, whether the financial institution is indebted to the taxpayer or taxpayers listed in this request.”

(g) The request for information required by subsection (e) of this section shall be in writing and shall be (1) delivered or mailed, first class postage prepaid, to an office designated and made available by the financial institution pursuant to this subsection, or (2) transmitted by facsimile provided the facsimile message is transmitted to a facsimile number, addressed to the attention of a recipient or department, and designated and made available by the financial institution pursuant to this subsection. A notice received, whether by facsimile or otherwise, after five o’clock p.m., eastern standard time on any day, shall be deemed to have been received by the financial institution on the next business day. Each financial institution with an office in this state shall designate an office, facsimile number and recipient or department for purposes of this subsection and shall make the current designations available to collectors of taxes and serving officers upon request and by mailing or delivering such designations to the State Marshal Commission and the collector of taxes in each municipality in which the financial institution has an office. A financial institution may amend its designations, provided the amended designations are mailed or delivered to the State Marshal Commission and collector of taxes in each municipality in which the financial institution has an office at least fifteen days before becoming effective. If a financial institution fails to make such designations or fails to make such designations available as required by this subsection, the tax collector or serving officer may serve the request for information on any office of the financial institution located in this state.

(h) Upon receipt of a request for information that complies with subsection (f) of this section, the financial institution shall respond to such request by reporting that (1) the financial institution is indebted to one or more of the taxpayers listed on the request and listing the name or names of those taxpayers, or (2) the financial institution is not indebted to any of the taxpayers listed in the request. If the financial institution is unable to make a determination with respect to a particular taxpayer based on the information supplied with the request, the financial institution may respond that additional information will be needed to make a determination with respect to a taxpayer, listing the name of the taxpayer in question, and the financial institution may adjust its response pursuant to subdivision (1) or (2) of this subsection to reflect such fact. The financial institution shall mail, deliver or transmit the response, in the case of a request listing fewer than one hundred taxpayers, not later than five business days following the date the request was received, or in the case of a request listing one hundred or more taxpayers, but not more than two hundred fifty taxpayers, not later than ten business days following the date the request was received. No request for information shall include more than two hundred fifty taxpayers. Once a request for information has been served by or on behalf of a particular town, an additional request for information may not be served upon that same financial institution by or on behalf of that same town unless the financial institution has had an opportunity to respond as provided in this subsection. Unless otherwise required by law, a financial institution that has received a request for information shall not disclose to a taxpayer listed on the request that the financial institution has received a request for information relative to such taxpayer, provided nothing in this section shall prevent the disclosure of information that is publicly known or known to the taxpayer or as otherwise may be necessary to protect the interests of the financial institution.

(i) No financial institution or officer, director or employee of a financial institution, and no serving officer, municipality or officer, employee or agent of a municipality, shall be liable to any person with respect to any act done or omitted in good faith or through the commission of a bona fide error that occurs despite reasonable procedures maintained by the financial institution, serving officer, municipality or officer, employee or agent of a municipality, to prevent such errors in complying with the provisions of this section. For purposes of the response required by subsection (h) of this section, the financial institution may select, with respect to each taxpayer listed on the request, a particular day within the time frame allotted by such subsection, for determining the presence or absence of indebtedness, and the financial institution shall not be responsible for reporting upon the presence or absence of indebtedness on any other day.

(j) For the purposes of this section, “water or sanitation charges” means (1) any rates or charges established pursuant to section 7-239, or (2) any charges imposed by a municipality for the collection and disposal of garbage, trash, rubbish, waste material and ashes.

(1949 Rev., S. 1843; 1963, P.A. 642, S. 8; 1967, P.A. 123, S. 2; 1969, P.A. 331; 472; P.A. 77-459, S. 1, 2; P.A. 82-161, S. 1, 2; P.A. 83-581, S. 29, 40; P.A. 91-350, S. 1; P.A. 95-228, S. 6, 15; P.A. 96-180, S. 23, 166; P.A. 00-99, S. 41, 154; P.A. 01-195, S. 17, 181; P.A. 05-135, S. 2; P.A. 07-95, S. 4; 07-111, S. 1.)

History: 1963 act changed obsolete reference from keeper of jail to state jail administrator; 1967 act deleted reference to imprisonment for nonpayment of taxes; 1969 acts added provision allowing collector to garnishee wages for nonpayment of taxes and required unserved warrants to be returned to collector within 30 days after issuance with explanation for why it was not served; P.A. 77-459 allowed collection of additional 5% or 10% amounts above other expenses in cases where warrant executed by sheriff, deputy sheriff or constable; P.A. 82-161 amended the alias tax warrant form issued by the tax collector so that the serving officer in the manner prescribed and to the extent necessary shall levy for the delinquent taxes by making demand upon any banking institution indebted to the delinquent taxpayer as if judgment had been entered for the amount due; P.A. 83-581 replaced “as if judgment therefor had been entered, in accordance with section 52-361” with “as if a wage execution had been entered, in accordance with section 52-361a”; P.A. 91-350 added phrase “Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (j) of section 52-252b” and applied 10% figure re allowance for those collecting delinquent taxes in all cases, deleting sliding scale previously in existence, raised minimum fee from $5 to $20 and changed deadline for return of unserved warrants from 30 to 60 days; P.A. 95-228 made technical changes, effective July 6, 1995, and applicable to tax sale notices posted, filed or published on and after said date; P.A. 96-180 added reference to Sec. 52-367b in tax warrant form, effective June 3, 1996; P.A. 00-99 replaced references to sheriff and deputy sheriff with state marshal, effective December 1, 2000; (Revisor’s note: In 2001 the reference in this section to the date “19..” was changed editorially by the Revisors to “20..” to reflect the new millennium); P.A. 01-195 made technical changes for the purposes of gender neutrality, effective July 11, 2001; P.A. 05-135 divided section into Subsecs. (a), (b) and (c) and amended Subsec. (c) by replacing provisions re receipt by state marshal or constable of amount equal to 10% of taxes collected with provisions re receipt by state marshal or constable of percentage calculated at rate applicable for levy of execution as provided in Sec. 52-261, increasing minimum fee from $20 to $30 and making conforming and technical changes, effective June 24, 2005, and applicable to the execution of tax warrants issued on or after July 2, 2003; P.A. 07-95 added provisions re collection of water or sanitation charges, designated provisions of Subsec. (b) as Subsec. (b)(1) and made technical changes therein, added Subsec. (b)(2) prohibiting issuance of alias tax warrant to levy upon real estate solely for collecting water or sanitation charges and defined “water or sanitation charges”, effective July 1, 2007; P.A. 07-111 amended alias tax warrant form in Subsec. (b) to direct serving officer to make demand upon the main office of any financial institution, in lieu of banking institution, in accordance with Sec. 12-162, and added Subsecs. (d) to (h) re service of warrants and requests for information upon financial institutions, including form and delivery for requests for information and response to such request, and Subsec. (i) to specify that financial institutions and their officers, directors and employees are not liable for errors that occur despite existence of reasonable procedures to prevent errors or for any good faith act or omission in relation to complying with provisions of section.

See Sec. 12-135 re execution of tax warrants.

Under old law, collector may collect under his rate bill after year for which appointed, though another tax laid and collector appointed. 10 C. 146. Liable for levying on property in one town and posting and selling it in another. 11 C. 472. Tax illegally assessed paid under compulsion may be recovered. 24 C. 89; 30 C. 395; 35 C. 563. If inseparable portion of assessment is illegal, the whole is illegal. Id., 573. Mandamus lies against negligent collector, notwithstanding there is a remedy on the bond or by execution. 48 C. 145. Running of interest not suspended by appeal from board of relief. 72 C. 599. Payment of collector by permitting him to deduct amounts from collections. 74 C. 397. Present statute authorizing alias tax warrant constitutional. 106 C. 230. Cited. 112 C. 318. Warrant issued before amount of taxes determined does not justify sale to collect them. 121 C. 250.

No provision within section authorizes use of a tax warrant, issued by tax collector, to protect fixtures and other material of historic value; sovereign immunity cannot be invoked to justify failure of a town to follow procedures prescribed by section for collecting delinquent taxes. 71 CA 438.