Assessor, tax office report stronger collections and upcoming vehicle-registration sweeps; tax-collector outlines enforcement actions

Tax-assessment and tax-collection updates were presented to Norwalk’s Finance & Claims Committee on Feb. 13, detailing progress on the grand list, the start of automated vehicle-registration sweeps and delinquent-tax enforcement steps as the city moves toward July billing and the FY 2025–26 budget cycle.

Assessor updates Tax Assessor Paul Goldman said the assessor’s office is working to finalize the grand list and expected to complete that work by the end of the next week. The office has been constrained by staffing shortages but said new hires were on the way.

Goldman also described a recently activated program with a private vendor (MTS) to perform repeated camera sweeps seeking vehicles that appear to be garaged or principally used in Norwalk but are registered out of state. The vendor will only report vehicles that appear multiple times during repeated sweeps (the firm’s protocol requires seeing the same vehicle three times across 4–6 weeks before flagging it). Where the vendor identifies a possible taxable vehicle, the city will first send a letter to the registered owner giving them an opportunity to respond and provide proof of out‑of‑city residency.

CFO Jared Schmidt clarified that the motor-vehicle billing changes will affect bills starting in the upcoming fiscal year’s July billing cycle; communications to residents about the change are under discussion with the assessor and tax collector.

Tax-collector update and collections Tax Collector Lisa B. (reported at the meeting) said the city’s collection rate rose from 62.53% in December to 91.26% in January as a result of heavy payment processing in January and continued collections through early February. She told the committee the January receipts would increase when February payments were fully processed and outlined enforcement actions planned for February–June, including: - Sending statutory “demand for payment” notices to delinquent taxpayers (a legal prerequisite before further enforcement). - Filing lien continuation certificates in March for past-due real-estate and sewer use accounts. - Wage garnishments for city or BOE employees with long-standing delinquencies (used selectively). - Coordinating with the health department to withhold permit renewals when relevant accounts are a year or more delinquent.

The tax collector also reminded the committee that the redemption period for properties tied to the Sept. 2024 tax sale ends March 10; unsatisfied properties will be deeded to bidders on March 11.

Why it matters The assessor and tax-collector updates are part of the city’s revenue and enforcement strategy that underpins the operating budget and the mill-rate calculation. Higher current-collection rates reduce pressure on the mill rate; conversely, weaker collections would necessitate higher rates for a given set of services. The vehicle-sweep work is expected to add taxable vehicles to the grand list over time, but the assessor cautioned that the process is staged and will take several weeks to yield billable results.

Next steps - Assessor expects the grand list finalized by end of the next week; results of MTS sweeps expected in 8–10 weeks when letter exchanges and validation are complete. - Tax collector will begin statutory demand notices in February and file lien continuation certificates in March. - City staff to coordinate any public communications about motor-vehicle billing changes ahead of July bills.

Provenance Assessor Paul Goldman’s and Tax Collector Lisa B.’s updates are recorded in the Finance & Claims Committee transcript for Feb. 13, 2025.