Bethel’s new finance director clashes with businesses, city officials in effort to collect sales tax

Duane Wright is new to Bethel. A longtime CPA and fraud investigator, he started as the city’s new finance director in April. At the time, he didn’t know he was about to be thrust into a whirlwind.

“Unbeknownst to me, part of my job would be sales tax compliance,” Wright said. “I really did not know that before I took the job.”

According to Wright, soon after he started the job, Bethel’s city council directed him to dig into whether businesses were following the city’s sales tax code. But what started as a straightforward city initiative is now dividing council members, rankling business owners, and testing the resolve of Bethel’s first finance director in years.

Under Bethel’s code, all business done in the city, with few exceptions, is taxable. Because there is no property tax in Bethel, the 6% sales tax forms the backbone of the city’s revenue. Businesses are required to charge customers that tax and then pass it along to the city. All that money helps pay for roads, water, the fire department, the police department, and the rest of the infrastructure that makes Bethel run.

According to finance director Wright, no one had tried to enforce the sales tax requirements for at least a decade, and maybe longer. He estimates that there are millions, and potentially tens of millions of dollars that businesses owe to the city. That’s money the city is missing…