Countering misinformation
Submitted by cnarbey on Thu, 08/06/2009 - 10:43am
For reasons best known to him, Councilman Lou Tartaro has made statements at the Town Board meeting of July 13, 2009, to the press ("The Journal News", "The Putnam Courier" and "The Putnam Press") and in letters to all of these newspapers.
Many of his statements are not factual and appear to be designed to shift the blame for the impending (apparent - we don't know the details yet) financial loss to the taxpayers of Kent onto Putnam County and onto NYC's DEP.
I have attempted to counter these mistatements with letters to the editor. Here is the latest, published in today's "Putnam Courier":
In his letter last week, Town of Kent Councilman Tartaro again writes misleadingly.
He writes that the County “ … forgave the unpaid taxes …”. The fact is that the County cannot forgive property taxes and this property remains on the tax roll at its 2009 assessed value (which may change as a result of the yet-to-be-revealed settlement of the litigation over the development), so the owner will have to pay taxes on whatever assessed value is agreed upon. Legislator Hay said as much in his letter.
Secondly, Mr. Tartaro questions why the County did not foreclose on the property. The fact is that foreclosure proceedings are held in abeyance in the event of the property owner’s bankruptcy and/or in the event of litigation launched by a property owner. So, the County was unable to complete its foreclosure action, awaiting the resolution of the litigation.
Mr. Tartaro knows (or he should know) these facts. I believe that it is entirely improper for him to write these misleading comments, as many of his constituents do not have knowledge of the facts in these situations and many believe fervently (but incorrectly) that the County has the absolute and unfettered right to seize real property, without regard to the legal rights of the owner.
