Problems with the state Department of Motor Vehicles computer system has expanded to encompass many motor vehicle records needed by municipal assessors statewide to calculate their grand lists of taxable property by the end of January.

Norwich Assessor Donna Ralston was among the municipal assessors to discover a host of problems with assigned addresses for motor vehicles — especially commercial freight trucks and school bus fleets — that should be taxed in the towns where they are housed.

Instead, the records apparently have been sent to the corporate office addresses for the companies owning the fleets.

John Rainaldi, Manchester assessor/tax collector and president of the Connecticut Association of Assessing Officers, said Wednesday that association officials will meet with DMV Commissioner Andres Ayala Jr. next Wednesday to discuss the problems and possible corrections.

According to Rainaldi, in addition to the commercial vehicles errors, problems with the computer database include incorrect zip codes for registered vehicles — leading to vehicles being assigned to the wrong municipality, address changes either before or after the computer changeover and leased vehicles being assigned to the wrong towns.

Rainaldi said it’s too early to say whether the problems can be correct in time for assessors to file their Oct. 1, 2015, grand lists to the state by the Jan. 31 deadline.

Municipalities can request an extension to the end of February.

The grand lists are needed by municipal budgeting agencies to calculate anticipated tax revenue in the coming fiscal year to set new tax rates.

“The software has created a lot of issues in a lot of places,” Rainaldi said. “Our function as assessors is to assess properties in towns, motor vehicles are a part of that. We are proceeding with our assessments knowing this is a problem. I think most towns are going to move forward and sign their grand lists on time and deal with issues.”

DMV spokesman William Seymour said Wednesday that the problem surfaced because the new computer system works differently and assigns a single identifier, such as the corporate name and address, rather than individual addresses where vehicles are garaged.

“We are working with the assessors now to resolve the situation,” Seymour said in an email statement. “It will not hold up the Jan. 31 deadline they face. The Commissioner is meeting next week with the association for the first time since his appointment last year.”

The DMV has come under fire repeatedly since the agency closed offices for a week last summer to upgrade its computer system.

While the new system was expected to cut wait times for customers at DMV branch offices, reports this past fall showed that wait times tripled in some cases.

Earlier this month, another problem surfaced in which the DMV was suspending registrations erroneously for not having vehicle insurance after the computer system failed to detect a change or new insurance policies.

The computer system also had notified police departments throughout the state of suspended registrations, leading to arrests and towing of allegedly unregistered vehicles.

Commissioner Ayala apologized and promised that any fines incurred between Aug. 18 and Jan. 9 due to the DMV's error would be reimbursed, an Associated Press story on the issue said.

Rainaldi said Wednesday the best estimate is that the motor vehicle address records problem involves about 100,000 vehicles out of an estimated 3 million vehicles statewide.

Ralston, who will participate in next Wednesday’s meeting with the commissioner as co-chairman of the Connecticut association’s Motor Vehicle Committee, said she plans to file the Norwich grand list by the end of January and sort out motor vehicle problems afterward.

She said motor vehicles amount to about 8 percent of the Norwich grand list.

Ralston said the DMV did send huge files of additional data to towns to try to resolve erroneous addresses, but the files also include old vehicles no longer registered to those owners.

Those lists also would not include new leased or purchased vehicles not on old lists that might be assigned to incorrect addresses, Rainaldi said.

Ralston said vehicle owners who receive assessments for vehicles they do not own should appeal through the Board of Assessment Appeals in spring.

She hopes to resolve the issues with a corrected grand list before tax bills are finalized and mailed in June.

“We can catch most of the problems before the bills go out,” Ralston said.

c.bessette@theday.com

Twitter: @Bessettetheday