Something different: Report finds New Britain tax collector waived interest on late tax bills for favored taxpayers and herself. Other interest waived as “courtesy per mayor.”

A four-page report on practices in the New Britain tax collector’s office under former Mayor Erin Stewart concludes by recommending that her successor, Bobby Sanchez, refer the unauthorized practice of waiving interest on tax bills to state law enforcement authorities. The report includes a conclusion that will spell trouble for Stewart’s campaign for the Republican nomination for governor: “These allegations were raised with the previous administration; however, given that the claims were never investigated, the allegations became the initial focus of our review.”

Stewart concluded a six-term, twelve-year tenure as mayor late last year after declining to seek a seventh term.

The investigation. conducted by the Crumbie Law Group on behalf of the city, alleges that the tax collector, Cheryl Blogoslawski, backdated tax payments to avoid charging interest on certain payments. State law requires interest on late taxes at a, interest rate of 18% per year. The law also provides limited authority for a town through its legislative body to waive interest on late tax bills. The law is crafted to avoid allowing local government officials to give favorable treatment to those paying their taxes late.

Blogoslawski, the report states, used backdating of her own late payments to eliminate the statutory interest charge.

The interim report states, “Ms. Blogoslawski also indicated that a member of the former Mayor’s Office (Witness 8) often hand-delivered checks from Taxpayer 1 to her for processing; this allegation was corroborated through email evidence and the [other] records.” In addition, “Some of the more egregious examples of payment backdating include a motor vehicle tax that was due on July 31, 2015, but not paid until June 2017, and because the payment date was backdated, no interest was assessed or collected. The note in the QDS record indicates that the July 2015, date was honored as a ‘1 time courtesy per mayor.'” 

Witness 8 also revealed “as Chief of Staff to the former Mayor they did not have any ‘real’ authority, so they could not act without direction of the former Mayor, and therefore, anything that they did regarding Taxpayer 1 was either at the mayor’s direction or with her knowledge.” Records and interviews established that Witness 8 delivered tax payments from Taxpayer 1 to Blogoslawski’s office “for several years.” The checks were sometimes held in the Mayor’s office, including one for a 2015 motor vehicle tax bill that was delivered to the tax office in June 2017 and backdated to eliminate accumulated interest.

The report also notes that Blogoslawski’s office handling of cash put other employees on edge. In one instance, maintenance staff in the city hall discovered $246,000 on a safe (not in the safe) while they were cleaning the office after the building had closed for the day. “[T]he custodial staff refused to clean the Revenue Collector’s Office to avoid any suspicion if money was discovered to be missing,” the report notes.

“The investigation is ongoing,” the report concludes.

Published April 15, 2026