Stressing a strong local economy, a high credit rating and progress in downtown redevelopment, Norwalk Mayor Harry Rilling gave a positive outlook on the city”™s future in his first State of the City address.
More than 200 business leaders turned out for the mayor”™s address Sept. 18, hosted by the Norwalk Chamber of Commerce at the DoubleTree by Hilton. The speech blended a positive economic outlook with calls for zoning and property tax reform.
“Norwalk”™s economy has prevailed during the recent years of economic struggle,” Rilling said, noting that the city”™s jobless rate is lower than the statewide rate. The state Labor Department reported 5.6 percent unemployment in Norwalk in August, compared with 6.6 percent for Connecticut.
The city”™s revenue is also a strong point, Rilling said, emphasizing strong tax collections and revenue from tax sales of delinquent properties. He said the city collected 98.68 percent of its tax levy and a similar percentage of its sewer levy in 2013, and that through the end of June, more than $3.6 million in back taxes, liens and other fees were pulled in by the tax collector”™s office.
Fiscally, Rilling said that Norwalk is one of only 18 municipalities in the Nutmeg State with a top-tier bond rating. Moody”™s Investors Service, Standard and Poor”™s and Fitch Ratings reaffirmed the city”™s Aaa/AAA rating in July.
“I”™m really proud of this ”” we ended the year with a surplus in our budget,” said the mayor, who was elected in November 2013. “We held the department heads accountable, making sure that they answer to us if there were line items that were being overspent, and we tried to talk to them and rein them in and get them back on track.”
To move forward, Rilling said, the city is embracing economic development opportunities and has appointed a business advisory council to highlight the city”™s resources. That council helped in the hiring of Economic Development Director Elizabeth Stocker, who served as Norwalk”™s assistant city planner from 1985 through 1990.
Rilling noted the progress over the past year of development projects like the Waypointe and Ironworks apartments and the Even Hotel, and highlighted the groundbreaking of the 66-unit Sono Pearl Apartments on Washington Street and the more than 100,000-square-foot Norwalk Hospital addition.
“You can see that Norwalk is becoming a vibrant community once again,” Rilling said. “People around us are going to sit up and take notice. They”™re going to find that Norwalk is going to become a destination again.”
He said the city is aggressively pursuing grants and support from foundations to fund projects across the city.
“In the last quarter alone, we”™ve received $430,319 in grants for the city of Norwalk,” he said. The grants included money to introduce energy solutions to businesses and homeowners, clean up brownfields and fund initiatives for historic preservation, youth employment and electric car charging stations.
Rilling called for streamlined and modernized zoning regulations to promote “smart development” in SoNo, Wall Street and residential neighborhoods.
“We need to get rid of inconsistencies and loopholes,” Rilling said, emphasizing that that city needs a clear vision for its residential neighborhoods to paint a better picture of the city”™s future.
Among the city”™s biggest problems, Rilling said, was the property tax system, which is the biggest levy the city has on residents and businesses.
“It”™s a regressive tax that is profit-blind and income-blind,” the mayor said. He said the city, through the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, is pushing for property tax reform, including the restoration of state revenue sharing funded through sales taxes and conveyance taxes.
Rilling, who served as chief of the Norwalk Police Department from 1995 until 2012, concluded by laying out a positive vision of the city”™s future. “Ten years from now, you”™re not going to see the Norwalk you see today. Wall Street, which has been a ghost town since 1955, will be thriving. People will be walking the streets again, having dinner in the restaurants,” he said. “I”™m working alongside you to ensure that our dreams become reality.”
