More than $458,000 in back taxes is owed on a property at the corner of South Main and Kyle streets, but taking it over could prove costly.
By: Audrey Levine
What should the borough do when the owner of a contaminated property doesn’t pay his tax bill?
That’s the question officials are wrestling with, and it was posed first by business owner Dean Shepard at the May 29 Borough Council meeting, and again by Dominic Street resident John Mehalick at the Borough Council’s meeting Monday.
Mr. Shepard asked what officials were doing to collect more than $458,000 in back taxes owed by Kenneth Grant for property at the corner of South Main and Kyle streets, which is leased to service station operator Frank Racz.
According to Mr. Mehalick, Mr. Grant has owned the Main Street property for 18 years, during which time he has not paid the taxes. He said Mr. Grant also has two mortgages from 1998 that would not have to be paid if the borough takes control of the property.
"If we didn’t pay taxes, the town would go down the tubes," Mr. Mehalick said to applause from about 30 Manville residents present at the June 11 meeting. "I demand that this property be foreclosed immediately."
Normally, the borough would sell tax liens on such a property, but officials say they are avoiding foreclosing on the property to save taxpayers money.
According to Gary Garwacke, borough administrator, the property was contaminated from leaking underground gas tanks.
"We don’t want to burden taxpayers with another contaminated site," said Mayor Angelo Corradino at the meeting Monday.
In a separate interview, Mr. Garwacke said that normally a property is placed on a tax sale list when a person does not pay. In turn, he said, investors bid on who will pay off the taxes and take control of the property.
Unfortunately, because of the contamination, no one is interested in taking control of the land, including the borough.
"It’s rare to come to a property that no one wants," Mr. Garwacke said. "For the town, we don’t want to open the liability for taxpayers to have to deal with this property."
Because of this, he said, the borough is not looking to foreclose on the land until it can re-evaluate the costs of cleaning the contamination.
In the past, the Department of Environmental Protection required sites with underground gas tanks to register and monitor leaks, but it was not until two years ago that there was a renewed interest in the work. Mr. Garwacke said the DEP began to take a closer look at these issues when a South Jersey day care center found there was lead in the ground next to its location.
"There was suddenly a renewed interest to go after these sites," he said.
Still, there is no real threat of foreclosure on the Main Street property and, therefore, Mr. Garwacke said there is a good chance that that is why the taxes are not being paid.
"Everyone is relying on the DEP to clean up the site, but they are not pressuring Mr. Grant, so he’s not doing anything," he said.
Mr. Grant could not be reached for comment.

