It has been two weeks and counting as government officials in New Rochelle, NY continue to stonewall after revelations that the Chairman of the City’s Civil Service Commission received “Combat Vet” property tax exemptions for the past 8 years despite having never served in the U.S. Military. New York State “Combat Vet” tax exemptions are reserved for those who fought and died for the United States or their spousal survivors. The official is an immigrant from Italy who never served a single day in the U.S. military.
Adding yet another twist to the bizarre tale, City officials today told Talk of the Sound that is does not possess any records of any request by any owner of the property at 7 Pinebrook Road for the current property tax exemptions including the STAR exemptions and Combat Vet exemptions that City officials have told Talk of the Sound were initially granted in 1999.
At City Hall earlier today, a spokesperson for the City refused to respond to repeated questions as to whether City officials would respond to questions posed by the Talk of the Sound over the past 10 days.
For two weeks now the City has stonewalled efforts of Talk of the Sound to get answers to questions regarding three property tax exemptions on property owned by Dominic Procopio, the Chairman of the New Rochelle Civil Service Commission and now claims there are no records which explain how or why the tax exemptions were originally granted or why they were carried forward after Procopio became the sole owner of the property in 2002.
Based on the past “confusion” about my previous communications with City officials regarding this matter, after my meeting today with Kathy Gilwit I sent her the following email.
Kathy,
Thank you so much for your time earlier today.
As there has been some confusion in recent days, I want to verify the following from our meeting today.
1. You told me that you today received via email my amended FOIL request and that you consider that email as a valid FOIL request.
2. You told me that although Dominic Procopio has been receiving STAR and Combat Vet Exemptions on the property at 7 Pinebrook Road since 2002 there is no record which documents how those exemptions were initially granted.
3. By way of explaining why there were no records documenting the exemptions on 7 Pinebrook Road, you told me that under New York State law, the City is not required to maintain records for more than 6 years.
4. You declined to answer when I asked three separate times whether the City intended to respond to the questions I have been asking regarding this matter since October 9th.
5. You told me that Dominic Procopio is currently Chairman of the New Rochelle Civil Service Commission.
Sincerely,
Robert Cox
I have yet to receive a reply.
The amended FOIL request referenced in the above email reads as follows:
AMENDED FOIL REQUST:
I wish to inspect every record possessed by the City of New Rochelle that relates to any property ever owned in New Rochelle by Mr. Dominic Procopio. This includes, but not exclusively, the properties on 126 Liberty Avenue and 7 Pinebrook Road. Records of interest, but not exclusively, are any records related to tax exemptions on those properties going back to the earliest point for which records exist (I understand there was a fire about 50 years ago that destroyed many City records) and any records related to tax bills for those properties and any payments of those tax bills. Additionally I would like to review the building and assessors cards for all of the properties. I also wish to inspect records related to any appointments, employment or positions, paid or unpaid, official or unofficial, full or part time ever held by Mr. Procopio with the City of New Rochelle. This includes resolutions related to those positions, expense reimbursement requests filed by Mr. Procopio and payments made to Mr. Procopio. I also wish to obtain the same records for the “Ms. Ferrari” to whom you refer…
As you know I am unable to view public sites from my Mac, please provide copies of all the pertinent documents you refer to on the County web site for ownership.
Previous Talk of the Sound stories about Domenic Procopio:
Who is Dominic Procopio and Why is He Chairman of the Municipal Civil Service Commission?
He’s not the only one with
He’s not the only one with sweetheart deals working at 515 North or 90 Beaufort.
That’s all well and good but…
You need to either report what you know or provide detailed information so records can be pulled and published.
As we have repeatedly shown, we are pretty good at shining a bright light on this sort of thing if residents will share what they know.
Remember folks, cleaning up this sort of thing is a process. As beneficiaries of sweetheart deals come to realize that they could show up on Talk of the Sound at any time the are going to be just a little more circumspect about accepting them.
The ability for any resident to publish to the web where all other residents can see the information has completely upended the power structure. All that is needed is for those who know even one piece of information to share it here so that the drip, drip, drip becomes a flood of information about illegal and unethical behavior in our City.
Arrests Need to Be Made By NY State DA’s Office…
New Rochelle Officals aren’t unable to explain why Dominic Procopio is receiving STAR Exemptions and Combat Vet Exemption on two properties that he owns, 7 Pinebrook Road and 126 Liberty Avenue, it’s that they don’t want to explain. If they did, they would be admitting to illegal activity.
You see, this illegal activity has been going on for decades with New Rochelle City Officials and Dominic Procopio and it will not stop until the Westchester County DA’s Office and the NY State DA’s Office step in and make arrests.
Property Tax Cheats
The other way the City takes care of its own is they never complete the Certificate of occupancy process. This is how it works. They take out permits for major construction projects of there homes, finish the work but never file for the completed job so the property isn’t given the Certificate of Occupancy and reassessed so the taxes don’t go up. Then when you’re ready to sell years later they get the C of O. If anyone went through the building dept records they’d see permits taken out years ago for work that should be completed, a C of O should be issued and the property reassessed. But you can rest assured it’ll be someone working for the city, not you or I who gets this special treatment.
Provide addresses and we will FOIL for records
As the Procopio story shows, if readers will provide the tips we will follow up.
If you know of a specific address we will file a Freedom of Information request, obtain the records and, if warranted, publish what we find.
A question worth asking of City officials is whether they keep track of “days since permit taken out” and then investigate the projects that have the most days. This would seem to be a very simple thing to do. Does anyone know how these records are kept? If they are stored electronically it is a simple sort. If on paper it is a matter of just FOILing to inspect all of the permits filed and then flagging all of them that are more than two years old (for starters).
BTW, anyone can FOIL. We could sure use the help. If you are interested to be part of a “FOIL New Rochelle” project team let us know.
The fix is very simple.
Amnesty. The next time tax bills go out the city should include a legal form with the current property billing information and status of owners as it applies to star and extra tax breaks. The owner must testify in writing to the fact that he/she/they are entitled to whatever status is on the record, that any permits for work on the property are still pending or are in fact completed or if still pending, an estimated completion date. Have it notarized and filed. If they make corrections on this statement they will not be held responsible for back taxes. If they file a false application they will be held responsible for past taxes and prosecuted for perjury. It’s a start.
Please provide contact info
Please provide contact info for FOIL requests for New Ro. Thanks, Bob.
what do you mean?
Contact info for who?
You can email the City Clerk or just go over to City Hall and submit a request on paper. They have a simple form. I have a copy and can scan it if you need it.
Bob, who is the city clerk
Bob, who is the city clerk and what is their e-mail address? Thanks
Benny Giles
Google is your friend.
A new person was just appointed. I have no idea what their email address is but you can call City Hall and they will give you that information.
654-2000.
New Rochelle Council taps businessman as new city clerk | LoHud.com | The Journal News http://bit.ly/35aGq6