Properties listed in advance of July 16 tax sale
Hour photo / Erik TrautmannNorwalk resident John Mosby looks over the tax sale properties posted in the City Hall atrium Friday.
Posted: Friday, May 18, 2012 10:45 pm
The Hour Publishing Company
NORWALK — Land parcels, condominiums, single-family homes, commercial properties and a large number of boat slips are among the properties slated for the auction block this July unless their owners pay up back taxes.
This week, the Norwalk Tax Collector’s Office placed upon boards in the atrium of City Hall photographs and brief descriptions of the properties whose owners owe the city $25,000 or more, or are three or more years in arrears.
People milled about the boards on Friday, some planning to bid in the tax sale, others simply interested in who might lose a home or commercial property.
“I’m here looking and feeling sorry for these people,” said Lynn Phillips, a Norwalk resident who immediately recognized several properties posted on the display boards. “Anyone of us could (have our property) up here by losing a job.”
The tax sale is set for Monday, July 16, at 4 p.m. in Norwalk Concert Hall, 125 East Ave.
Prospective bidders are urged to purchase an information packet from the Town Clerk’s office to familiarize themselves with the rules and laws pertaining to tax sales. The cost of the packet is $20. The properties slated for inclusion in the tax sale are private properties and may not be trespassed upon.
As of Thursday, more than $3 million had been collected and 151 properties remained on the list.
“The primary reason we do the tax sale is to collect tax revenue. The tax sale is meant to enforce collection,” said Tax Collector Lisa Biagiarelli, who posted small yellow placards reading ‘Paid’ over photographs of properties whose owners had paid up. “It is not our goal to deprive people of their property or to transfer ownership of property from one person to another. If we scheduled the tax sale and every single property owner paid and we never had to have the sale, we would be very happy. The sale itself is not the goal; it’s just a means to an end and that end is collecting the taxes.”
Among the properties slated for inclusion in this year’s tax sale are more than 60 boat slips belonging to East Greyrock, LLC, and located at 10 Platt St. On each slip, the city is owed $2,406.84, according to the Tax Collector’s Office.
Peter M. Nolin, the attorney representing the property owner, said the property, which includes the boat slips and unbuilt condominiums, is “tied up” with the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. Nolin said the current property owner discovered contamination from the prior owner’s use of the property.
“(The property has) some very limited use, but most of the slips are tied to units that haven’t been built as condominiums,” Nolin said. “We’re working through the ownership and proper amounts of tax with the city and hope to come to a resolution.”
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Friday, May 18, 2012 10:45 pm.
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