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Tax Officials—“AKA The Bad Guys”—Grilled

by Melinda Tuhus | May 12, 2010 11:06 am

(23) Comments | Commenting has been closed | E-mail the Author

Posted to: City Hall

Melindad Tuhus Photo Mona Berman wanted to get to the bottom of a tax mystery: How come so many artists in town suddenly got identical $5,000 tax assessments this year, even if their property was worth as little as a few hundred dollars in the past?

Berman (pictured), an arts consultant, was one of a parade of business owners and politicians who lined up to blast city tax officials Tuesday night at an extraordinary hearing of the historically sleepy aldermanic Tax Abatement Committee.

They spoke at a hearing that lasted more than four hours and covered a wide range of accusations of incompetence, capriciousness, and cold-heartedness on the part of the city’s tax collector and assessor.

The collector and assessor showed up, too, and defended their work.

“He [Assessor William O’Brien] has assessed artists who have paint brushes and canvass, old stools and a dirty table [for] $5,000?” she asked incredulously. She was speaking about a tax mystery this year that first came to light in this New Haven Advocate article by Betsy Yagla

The committee also delved again into the city’s moves to foreclose on homeowners who haven’t paid their tax bills, without first notifying aldermen who might help the homeowners hold onto their property. Click here and here for previous stories.

Early on in the evening, aldermen questioned Tax Collector Maureen Villani about the city’s approach to foreclosure, running down a list of properties from around New Haven. They noted that some homeowners who owe as much as $12,000 were not foreclosed upon, while others who owe less, were.

Villani replied that some of the former had defaulted on payment plans; some filed appeals that were denied, in both cases delaying the process. West Rock Alderman Darnell Goldson went several civil but pointed rounds with her, trying to determine if the city has a written policy on how it pursues foreclosure. Finally, she said, “No,” and Goldson relaxed in his seat as if he’d just finished a marathon.

“So, there’s no favoritism going on?” questioned Committee Chair Mike Smart, who represents Wooster Square and was particularly concerned about an upcoming foreclosure sale on a property in his ward.

“None at all,” Villani answered.

Smart asked Villani if her office would notify aldermen when a foreclosure date is set on a property in their ward, and she agreed to do so.

Later, Tax Assessor William O’Brien was called to testify. He gave his name, then joked, “AKA the Bad Guy.”

Fair Haven Heights Alderman Alex Rhodeen (pictured) tried to clarify if the identical $5,000 assessment so many artists suddenly received this year represented a maximum or a minimum tax. “Is it a floor or a ceiling?” he asked. What followed was a series of contradictory answers from O’Brien that seemed to sew more confusion.
O’Brien then summed up the process taxpayers could follow if they are unhappy with their bill: They can go to the Board of Assessment Appeals, which he said is independent of his office, with members appointed by the mayor. If their appeal is denied, they can file a complaint in Superior Court. In between those two steps, he said they could come to him informally to seek redress.

Alderman Goldson later noted that those options make no sense for most taxpayers, because it would cost them more to appeal than just to pay the bill, even if it’s grossly inflated.

“It’s a hustle,” Goldson charged.

Nearly three hours into the meeting, Smart (pictured) summed up his view of the matter.

“Why not work with people? Why chase people out of the city?” he asked.

“I understand the city needs money. I feel like not working with people and having this hard-line approach is money-driven. Why encourage them to go to Superior Court? Who’s going to go to Superior Court for $200?”

That’s more or less the amount of taxes in question on a $5,000 assessment. Hiring a lawyer costs considerably extra; plus appelants lose work time.
O’Brien (pictured) denied his office’s policies are money-driven in any unfair way. “We do work with people,” he said. “I’‘ve got a real dirty job, and a lot of people don’t like the answers they receive.”
“Including [this] committee,” Smart interjected.

“Including the committee,” O’Brien agreed. “Are their inequities in the system? You bet there are. But we don’t target anybody; we don’t force them out. This is a matter of equity to make sure that others that may be underreporting are up to reporting standards.”

That last sentence seemed to confirm what Mona Berman said she’d been told when she went in to the assessor’s office in the first place—that she and others were being taxed to make up for others who weren’t paying their fair share.
Berman, who works from a home office on Lyons Street in Smart’s ward in Wooster Square, said she never received a notice of assessment this year. “That’s why I went in” to the assessor’s office, she said. When she received her tax assessment of $5,000, she was dumbfounded, since it was so much higher than in the preceding years, for no apparent reason.
A committee member questioned O’Brien about the jump in assessments for many small business owners. He said he considers it suspicious for businesses not to increase in value over the years, so he determined to raise assessments when he thought it appropriate.
“He certainly doesn’t know anything about art consulting in the 21st century,” Berman told a reporter after she testified. “The art business is not what it used to be, since 9/11. He has assessed artists who have paint brushes and canvass, used stools and a dirty table $5,000?”
She said O’Brien told her, “‘Everybody lies. Everybody cheats,’ and that’s why he was taxing me [on $5,000].” She called the assessment “despicable” and “illegal” and testified, “I want the committee to consider an abatement because I feel my rights were violated.”
Curtis Packer (pictured), owner of Bru Cafe on Orange Street, said he received a $40,000 tax assessment coupled with a $10,000 fine for late filing. He insisted he had filed on time. When he and his lawyer went to appeal, they found there was no paperwork in his file. “We subsequently found out that the paperwork we provided to the tax assessor that he stamped to formulate the appeal was then put into the file.” He said his appeal was denied.
He owes $2,600 in taxes, due July 1st. He said if he appeals in court, he must pay the late fine and the taxes first, and if he wins, the money is applied as a credit to future tax bills. But he said he can’t afford the fine. “Unless we get a waiver or something, we’ll probably have to close.”
O’Brien refuted the claims of both Berman and Packer. He said Berman was emotional when she came into his office, and perhaps that colored her hearing of what he said. And he claimed that Packer’s paperwork was in fact in the Bru file. But both Berman and Packer stuck to their stories during their testimony and afterwards.
After the meeting, Smart summed up his opinion of the city officials’ testimony. “I think the tax collector is trying her best to rectify the situation so I feel like we’re moving in the right direction, but there are still unanswered questions. O’Brien didn’t make sense—the committee was irritated and very concerned.”
He said the committee is going to “seek a couple of legal opinions and then make a decision about how to help these folks out. There’s a lot of questions that still need to be answered; we need to get more information. We’re not going to let it die. We’re going to pursue it: the moratorium [on foreclosures]; assessment appeals, tax foreclosure status and refunds. We want folks who qualify for refunds [on appeal] to get their legal costs refunded.”

Comments

posted by: robn on May 12, 2010 11:44am

Assessments in this town are not capricious, they’re obnoxious. I made a lucid detailed appeal to the last reval backed up by accurate documentation and the tax assessors denied it. The redress window is only 30 days and besides, making people fight in court is completely wrong.

posted by: NOT starting my business in NH on May 12, 2010 11:47am

You’ve got to be kidding me. I’m planning on starting a small manufacturing business which might employ up to 10 people in the next couple of years. There’s no way I’d bother with New Haven. Looking at Hamden, Branford or out-of-state. Good luck with your arts jobs…you’ll need it.

posted by: Anon on May 12, 2010 11:50am

Re artist’s $5,000 across the board assessments:

I can’t beleive O’Brien made these statements with a straight face.

The city obviously is desperate for money.

The artists are going to band together as a group, get a Volunteer Lawyer for the Arts to represent them for free, and sue if they can.

posted by: streever on May 12, 2010 12:25pm

what o’brien neglects to mention is that the tax appeals people are volunteers who turn away cases when they are overloaded. NHI should follow-up and look into that. People are being ripped off.

posted by: Anon on May 12, 2010 1:12pm

Streever,

Unbelievable. Thanks for sharing that with everyone.

New Haven is nuts because it wants to improve but does things that drive people away.

Between making sure fired cops get back on the force, to illegally taxing small, minuscule business enterprises they are doing a great job.

Add to that, that they do it publicly, openly, so that it is obvious to readers or anyone thinking of staying or coming here.

Is there any doubt that if the city is to improve, the mayor has to go?

Isn’t it obvious that he i… reached the limits of effectiveness?

posted by: Tribe on May 12, 2010 2:20pm

What a joke I was in the assessor’s office to ask about filuppingan appeal and was laughed out of the office. Who Is O’Brien kidduppinghe is sure driven by uping the assessments.

posted by: Alphonse Credenza on May 12, 2010 2:43pm

New Haven is about as far to the left as city governments come and they want it all.

posted by: Doyens on May 12, 2010 2:54pm

O’Brien’s comment that Berman was emotional and therefore misunderstood is a sexist and stupid comment. Assuming that a business should be assessed more without ever talking to the owner or stepping inside is a crock. His drive by muggings of taxpayers should be called for what they are - intellectually and actually dishonest. So this is the way you jacked values of city property by P0 million? dubious.

posted by: Bill Saunders on May 12, 2010 3:20pm

Anon,

Unfortunately, the Volunteer Lawyer’s for the Arts, which were a part of the Connecticut Commission on the Arts, met an untimely demise this years as a result of state budget cuts.

posted by: Bill Saunders on May 12, 2010 4:03pm

MUSICIANS: HIDE YOUR TELECASTERS!

posted by: Juan V on May 12, 2010 5:29pm

It sounds like a shell game. Two similar properties are next to one another and one has a higher tax bill ?! I know we heard of solicitation of contributions from City Hall’s finest/ consultants. Maybe it’s pay not to pay , much like pay to play. I’ve seen the City sit in an office of a new haven business and ask for hand washing. Promise the owner a cheaper appraisal for future favors, mostly cast off employs that the City has a problem or their hires at Yale that didn’t work out.

posted by: Bridgeport on May 12, 2010 7:56pm

William O’Brien was working in Bridgeport not that long ago. He was chase out with .. Please google the Connecticut Post. ... It is a matter of Public record. I wouldn’t be surprise if you are having similar problems in New Haven. Beware

posted by: streever on May 12, 2010 8:28pm

Juan, O’Brien must be a real activist: apparently he assessed a lot of those businesses their real value this year ;-)...

posted by: roomforaview on May 12, 2010 11:13pm

This is scary stuff. The Assessor arbitrarily hands out new assessments for a bunch of folks, the ones cited at $5,000. He does so sight unseen because he’s determined to raise assessments. Is this supposed to be a fair audit? Is this due process? Is his raising assessments by 1000 percent grounded on hard evidence?

posted by: Bill Saunders on May 13, 2010 12:45am

If you have had any direct dealings with getting relevant information from the city, you will all realize it is a shell game.

What’s next: Intellectual Property Tax???

posted by: Southbound on May 13, 2010 6:22am

Moving to Atlanta June 10th. New Haven taxes 16,000+, taxes on new home of similar size in Atlanta: $5,000+. We love New Haven, but will not miss the extremely high tax rate.

posted by: Wicked Lester on May 13, 2010 7:07am

I’d like to see an article about what happened to O’Brien with his short-lived assessor’s job in Bridgeport….

posted by: Curtis Packer on May 13, 2010 8:59am

I have been invited to reappear before the Board of Alderman. I am gathering additional information to present to the board, therefore I request any business whose assessment is in question, including all the artist/consultants, to come visit me at Bru Cafe (no phone calls please). Please bring copies of any paperwork you may have relating to your assessments, both past and present. Be advised I am not an attorney, nor play one on TV.
Curtis Packer

posted by: Northbound on May 13, 2010 10:53am

Over the line. Taxes are HALF of what we’re paying here…same size house, three times as much land…near bus line and Farmington Canal. ‘Bye.

posted by: Hugh on May 13, 2010 5:18pm

“There’s no way out no way out - of this living hell” -Tesla.. This paddy pocket O’Brian is just a Mayoral appointment

posted by: roomforaview on May 13, 2010 7:54pm

What has New Haven come to that O’Brien can pull numbers out of thin air for people’s assessments and think that he’s going to get away with it? Are taxpayers the enemy? There are lots more Bermans and Packers out there. As the Advocate piece pointed out the Board of Assessment Appeals was overwhelmed and equally puzzled by O’Brien’s “audits”. No wonder Independents have had it with the Democrats.

posted by: Ward 8 neighbor on May 13, 2010 8:49pm

While I don’t always agree with several writers, there is simply no excuse for the assessor’s various comments. How does he “assume” that all businesses must increase in value over the years and so he arbitrarily adjusts values? Are all tax payers with questions “emotional” or just women and Ms. Berman in particular? I had no idea that “everybody cheats, everybody lies”...I am not sure which is worse - his cynicism…his sexist put-down…his arbitrary assessments….

posted by: Edmund on May 23, 2010 11:03pm

O’Brien is just raising all the personal property assessments enough to disuade of these taxpayers to pay the tax and not go through a court appeal. a $5,000 assessment results in a an aprox. $210 tax bill, far less tahn an atty would cost for a court appeal. He was forcdespised out as assessor in New Haven in 2003, then forced to leave Bridgeport in 2008. He applied for the Assessors job in New Haven once again in 2008. He was the only applicant that satisfied the required residency requirement, and “He’s Back” Check out the CT Post article on “Demon O’Brien”...

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