Bankrupt owner is causing delays in collection
By:Alec Moore
Two residents took the Borough Council to task Monday over recent news, reported in the July 3rd edition of the Manville News, that there is a property in Manville that has not paid taxes for the past 14-years.
"I pay my taxes every year, there’s no excuse for anyone not to pay their taxes for 14 years," said Michael Fiure. "I want to know what action this council is going to take."
The discussion between Mr. Fiure and the council centered largely on whether or not the borough had a tax lien on the property that would ultimately give the borough the power to recoup the amount of back taxes owed on the property approximately $100,000 if the property, a former gas station, is sold.
"We do have a lien on that property," said Mayor Corradino, during a follow up interview on the meeting. Mayor Angelo Corradino was not present for the meeting, but said afterwards that the borough is now working to recoup the back taxes on the property, a former gas station located at 401 Main Street.
"One of the problems we had was that we couldn’t collect because the property was in bankruptcy," said the mayor, who noted that the borough’s tax counselor has been assigned to determine the most efficient means of collecting the back taxes owed on the property approximately $100,000 according to borough officials.
"We found out about this and now we’re acting responsibly, we’re not shooting from the hip or making erratic judgements, we’re doing what we need to do to collect the back taxes on that property," said the mayor.
In response to Mr. Fiure’s concerns, Borough Council President Ted Petrock who presided over the meeting in the absence of Mayor Angelo Corradino said borough officials could not provide him with the answers he was seeking that night, but that someone would get back to him with a response soon.
"Mr. Fiure, you’re asking questions that we don’t have an answer to," said Mr. Petrock, who suggested Mr. Fiore write down his questions and concerns and submit them to Borough Administrator Gary Garwacke to be researched.
During the discussion Councilman Tom Weiss, who chairs the borough’s finance committee, said the borough is looking into the feasibility of recouping the back taxes and added that the operations of the borough’s tax office is currently being looked into as well.
Councilman Martin Wierzba stated that he had attempted to obtain information on the property in question two weeks ago, but says Mr. Garwacke denied his requests.
"When I asked about this property I couldn’t get an answer from Gary, he wouldn’t tell me anything," said Mr. Wierzba.
Mr. Garwacke did not return a phone call for comment. Mayor Corradino expects to know by next week what plan the borough’s special tax counsel has developed to recoup the roughly $100,000 owed to the borough in back taxes.