Virtual Town Hall is Growing

On Friday, while most people were digging out from the more than 13 inches of snow dumped on Branford, the town website activated their online town pass purchasing link.

Gone are the days of schlepping to to renew your resident sticker or to purchase your beach/park pass. Now, with a click of a mouse, you can purchase your two-year beach/park pass or renew your town resident sticker (the current ones are good until 2012).

has been waiting for this day for some time. His goal, he said, is to put as many town resources online as possible so he never has to step foot into Town Hall when he retires. To date, Branford's town website allows residents to view a calendar of upcoming meetings online (with options to have reminders sent to you via email), download meeting agendas and minutes, view real estate transactions and search for dog license information. 

While you can still walk-in to purchase both resident and beach/park stickers at the ’s office, the online access allows residents more flexibility in purchasing.

The problem with purchasing beach/park passes and resident passes at the Tax Collector’s office was timing. Hugret said residents don’t purchase passes in March when the new two-year term begins. He furthered, “People don’t go to the beach in March." The summer, or "June," said Hugret, is when most people purchase passes but it's also when people’s taxes are due. What has resulted in the past, said Hugret, is people waiting to pay a $10,000 tax bill are contending with people trying to purchase a $5 transfer station pass. Both people, he said, take time out of work to do these things. “We’re here,” he said, “to serve the public.”

The online purchase and renewal system asks residents to input basic information like name, address, vehicle plate number and vehicle vin number. These pieces of information are cross-referenced with tax data bases and Branford's existing sticker registration information to verify the transaction. Residents pay with credit card and then wait about a week for the sticker to arrive in the mail.

Though the new system works well, residents will still have to come to Town Hall to purchase an initial two-year resident sticker if they've never had one before. Residents must show proof of town residency as well as vehicle registration. Hugret said this in-person-first-time-purchase is necessary so town employees can verify that residents are using the transfer station for personal use rather than commercial use, which is forbidden. After the first pass, Hugret said the town has records on file so there’s no need for someone to come back in to renew.

To purchase a beach/park pass, residents need only to show proof of Branford residency, which can be done online as the new system can confirm residency in moments. If your residency cannot be confirmed, users will receive a message to come to Town Hall.

In March of last year, Hugret said the town decided to offer a $4 beach/park pass in addition to the $5 town resident sticker. The resident sticker grants access to both the transfer station and the two beach/parks in town ( and ). The idea, said Hugret, was to have a pass for the many renters and condominium owners who don’t necessarily need a transfer station pass but wanted to access the parks. He estimates that population to be around 4,000 dwellings of Branford's approximate 13,000.

Hugret stated that the new beach/park passes, of which 500 were sold since their introduction, may not come back if there is not a high demand for them. In total, the town sells about 11,000 stickers (combined) every two years. So far, 7,700 have been purchased in-house. The online method, Hugret suspects, may change that total number.

In the future, Hugret hopes that the transfer station will be able to sell passes on site and the town will still have their virtual purchasing system. The goal is not to take town hall out of the equation, but to make life easier. Hugret understands that residents don’t always know they are going to clean a basement on a Wednesday when town hall is open. When Saturday comes and they have piles of trash, it would be easier to head to the dump and be able to purchase a two-year pass at $5 or a one-trip pass at $1 on site.

If you decide to go digital to purchase or renew your stickers, you can still be sure that every transaction has a human element. All passes are hand written with indelible ink and mailed to your home address. While you can purchase with a click of a mouse, you’ll wait about a week for your pass to arrive in the mail.