Statement from Smeriglio at Greenwich Tax Collector’s Office

Submitted by Heather Smeriglio, Tax Collector, Town of Greenwich

Recently a politically charged letter to the editor was published that grossly misrepresented an issue related to this office. this statement from the Tax Collector is to correct the record.

There are currently nine properties that have reached the 15-year statutory limit for tax collection in Greenwich.. One is a garage unit for a condo, one is a parcel that no longer exists and seen are vacant land that are non-conforming, non buildable with most having wetlands issues.

The nine properties in question represent $25,357.57 at risk to the town. To put this in perspective, our annual tax revenue is $390 million. This amounts to 0.00625% , or less than seven ten thousandths of our annual receipts.

The Tax Collector is working collaboratively with the town attorney and the BET liaison team – Jeff Ramer, Beth Krumeich, Karen Fassuliotis and Leslie Tarkington, to put in effect a procedure for these properties. While these properties represent a negligible fraction of town tax receipts they are complex in nature and require time to resolve.

To give you an idea as to how efficient this office has been with regard to collections, we are at a 99.64% collection rate for real estate property taxes. We will continue to deliver best in class service to our community, and my door will always be open to residents who have issues they would like to discuss.

The deadline for letters to the editor was Oct 26, 2021