NORWICH – City officials have acquired five properties in arrears and will be trying to find buyers for them in the coming weeks.
A 30-day tax deadline extension expired at the end of March. Fourteen property owners were given this opportunity to pay what was owed, and according to Finance Director Bill Roberts, most were able to redeem their properties in that time. Six owners owing a combination of city, county and school district taxes from as far back as 2010 have yet to pay, subjecting their property to be legally seized by the city. One of these has filed for bankruptcy, preventing the city from taking further action.
City officials acquired the remaining five properties and are now preparing to match each to the best potential buyer.
“It’s a time consuming process because each property is different,” Roberts noted. “The city’s objective is not to obtain real estate. We’re not in the real estate business,” he added.
City Mayor Joseph Maiurano agreed, saying, “It’s not a process we like to go through with ... The city has tried to do whatever is possible for the residents who live at these properties.”
Because each property is distinct, city officials are considering different options for each. For residences that are still livable, the city aims to find a buyer with the know-how to rehabilitate the structure, Maiurano said. Other properties may serve a different purpose – one of which is good only to serve as a storage space, he added.
“They really are all very unique. We want to make sure that the person who buys these properties is going to do something with them. That’s our main goal,” the mayor said. “The process is something we’ve done for several years and so far, it’s worked very well.”
While city officials hope to have Request for Proposal forms available for the list of tax foreclosed properties within the next few weeks, council members are also expected to approve the sale of a different city-owned parcel during tonight’s Common Council meeting.
The apartment house on 12 Walnut St. was voluntarily turned over to the city by its owner after a devastating fire last May made the residence unliveable. Had the burned-out property not been handed over, it might have sat untouched for another year or two, thereby causing more damage to the structure before action was taken, Roberts explained.
“The good thing about that house is that the buyer plans to make it a single family home,” Maiurano said. “That’s a plus for the whole neighborhood. People like to have a good neighbor, and it’s something that everyone in that area will benefit from.”