Council adopts change to tax-title transfers after adding land-trust notice

The Warwick City Council voted April 6 to amend municipal code language governing the transfer of tax titles, a change the administration and city solicitor said was needed to conform the city's ordinance to state law and to clear a long backlog of low-value tax-title parcels.

City Solicitor Michael Ursillo told the council that the existing municipal language conflicted with state procedures governing transfer and redemption; in some cases the city has been left holding titles to parcels for decades. The administration proposed streamlining the process so the city treasurer could ministerially transfer a tax title upon payment of the redemption price (taxes, accrued interest and fees) rather than relying on a higher-friction bidding or committee process.

Council members raised concerns about notice, conservation values and potential giveaways to well-connected buyers. In response, the council adopted a friendly amendment requiring electronic notice to the Warwick Land Trust at the same time the ordinance's statutory certified-mail notice goes to the property owner; the council also required that the land trust be notified of newly acquired tax-title parcels (the administration agreed to a notice triggered after a tax sale or when the city takes title).

The solicitor and administration said the amended ordinance preserves the mandatory legal components for owner notice and redemption while adding the practical protections the council requested for the land trust and other stakeholders. The council recorded votes to adopt the amendment and then passed the ordinance as amended.

Council members said the change should help the city move hundreds of largely undevelopable parcels off municipal books and generate at least the tax revenue owed, while the land trust's notice helps protect parcels of conservation or trail value. The administration said list data on tax-title parcels is available to the public on request and that it will work with the land trust to coordinate any parcels of special interest.

The ordinance change takes effect upon passage; council members left the door open to future adjustments should the new process produce unwanted outcomes.