Seeking to recover more than $400,000 in unpaid zoning violation fines from delinquent property owners, Norwalk officials have initiated a tax sale using a 2024 law authored by Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff.
Earlier this month, the city began sending letters to 15 local property owners, who had been unwilling to pay outstanding zoning fines. The unpaid citations date back as far as five years and exceed $40,000 in some cases.
Although tax sales are a commonly used method of collecting delinquent taxes or fines related to blighted properties, city officials said the sale scheduled for Sept. 18 represents the first time Norwalk has used this collection enforcement mechanism as a tool for recovering zoning fines.
The new flexibility to enforce zoning violations stems from legislation proposed in 2024 by Duff in response to feedback from municipalities struggling to recover fines.
“It was an issue of fairness,” Duff, D-Norwalk, said of the policy. “Residents and businesses who follow the rules shouldn’t be left footing the bill for those who can’t be bothered to respect our zoning laws. It made sense to give towns the tools they need to enforce local ordinances.”
Letters sent from the Norwalk Tax Collector’s Office gave delinquent property owners until Monday, July 14, to pay their outstanding fines before sale notices were filed.
“The earlier a property is paid off and removed from the tax sale, the less costly it is for the taxpayer,” the letters read. “Conversely, the farther along in the tax sale process we go, the more fees will be incurred, as fees are incurred and accumulate over time.”
The new policy, which took effect in October, was part of a larger bill informed by the Majority Leaders’ Affordable Housing Roundtable, which included provisions intended to encourage the development of housing and give towns the authority to regulate short-term rental properties.
