JAY – Selectmen took no action on a request by the town manager to adopt a policy that prohibits staff from giving quotes over the telephone on excise taxes for new vehicles.

However, Town Manager Ruth Marden said Monday that she would enact an office policy to that effect.

Staff does give excise tax quotes to customers who call in reference to a re-registration of a vehicle.

They’ve had a policy in place that they don’t give excise tax quotes over the phone for new vehicles to be registered or vehicles new to that person, Marden said.

There are too many variations involved that would affect the estimated quote, she said.

Some people get very upset when they come in with a check made out for the approximate quote clerks give over the phone and it turns out to be more money.

When someone calls and wants a quote on re-registration they are given an approximate quote, Town Clerk Ronda Palmer said.

“If it’s a re-registration, you call up and you can get that because it is already in the system,” Marden said.

They’ve had the policy in place for a while, but when clerks went to look for it they couldn’t find a written copy.

“We need some support from the selectmen,” Marden told them during a board meeting.

Selectman Warren Bryant made a motion to officially adopt the policy.

It failed for lack of a second.

“I can’t believe we have to make it a policy for this,” Selectman Steve Barker said.

“It’s always been the policy but when someone asked us for it, we couldn’t find it,” Palmer said.

They want a policy in writing that the practice is forbidden, Selectman Steve McCourt said.

“If you folks choose not to do it, I will institute an office policy. It’s that important,” Marden said.

“I think when we call the town office it’s a service,” Barker said.

Resident and business owner Mary Howes spoke up and said they don’t do quotes over the phone at their welding business either. People get too upset when they come in and the price is different than the approximate quote because the information provided by the customer wasn’t quite accurate.

“Do what I do, I give them a high quote,” contractor and Selectman Tom Goding said.

“It’s not really a big deal,” Palmer said. “If selectmen want us to do it, we’ll do it.”

Sometimes there are long lines at the counter, and customers calling for quotes can lead to delays because there are a lot of questions involved, especially if the caller does not have the vehicle identification number or other specific information, Marden said.

Resident William Rider said that if he was the person waiting in line for service with his information to get a vehicle registered he would be upset.

Marden said she would put the office policy in place.

“I would support it, but I don’t want to micromanage,” Barker said.