House of Hope to pay $208k in back property taxes

By John Howell
Posted 10/6/16

It’s been a mess with mistakes made by both parties.

That’s how City Tax Assessor Christopher Celeste characterized the back tax fiasco with the House of Hope that promises to be resolved …

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House of Hope to pay $208k in back property taxes

Posted

It’s been a mess with mistakes made by both parties.

That’s how City Tax Assessor Christopher Celeste characterized the back tax fiasco with the House of Hope that promises to be resolved under an agreement worked out by the city administration and approved Monday night by the City Council.

Under the agreement that will take effect when signed by the House of Hope and accompanied by a check totaling about $100,000, the non-profit organization agrees to pay off $208,222.08 in property taxes and interest dating back to 2010 in two years. In exchange, as long as the payment schedule is met, the city agrees to not place any of the 16 properties owned by the House of Hope for tax sale and abate tax payments for the current fiscal year and the next.

Celeste, who inherited the situation, said the delinquent taxes came to light when some House of Hope properties popped up on the tax sale list. As he explained it yesterday and as a review of tax-exempt properties confirmed, some House of Hope properties are exempt from taxation. This was never picked up, and apparently because it wasn’t paying taxes on some properties, House of Hope assumed it was fully tax-exempt.

Celeste said exemptions are specifically defined by state statute or by local ordinance, and had the House of Hope sought legislative exemption they probably would have received it.

But that step was never taken, and Celeste points out that by law if a taxpayer fails to appeal a tax assessment within 90 days of receipt of billing, the city cannot abate back taxes. It is for this reason that the city is seeking the back taxes plus interest costs on the seven properties that were taxed.

Going forward, Celeste said, the city would tax House of Hope housing on the basis of rental income as provided by law for subsidized housing. He said the rate is 8 percent of the rental income.

In addition, with the forbearance of current taxes for this and next fiscal year, the House of Hope will end up paying about the same in taxes when it is on a schedule going forward.

The agreement, which was discussed in executive session Monday, did not meet with full council agreement. Voting against it were Ward 5 Councilman Ed Ladouceur and Ward 9 Councilman Steve Merolla.

Ladouceur said “the House of Hope is a great organization,” but he feels this is a an issue of “fairness.” As the city can’t retroactively abate taxes that haven’t been appealed, he noted there are homeowners and businesses that are now discovering they were improperly assessed but don’t have any recourse.

“We can’t have preferred treatment for this agency,” he said.

Asked why the House of Hope should be taxed when other non-profits in the city are exempt, Ladouceur said, “That’s the way it is set up.”

Mayor Scott Avedisian, who has closely followed this issue and met with House of Hope board members and staff, pointed out in an email that the organization will pay all of the back taxes owed. He also noted that the organization is going through a change in leadership.

House of Hope board president Steve Miller could not be reached for comment.

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  • Drew

    Money grab under guise of helping disadvantaged. Similar to others in the State.

    Friday, October 7, 2016 Report this