New Rochelle Tax Assessor Says Public Officials Should Report “Clerical Errors” on Tax Exemptions

Written By: Robert Cox

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Without commenting specifically on the Domenic Procopio case, New Rochelle Tax Assessor Louis “Chip” Perone acknowledged today that he would expect public officials to notify his office if they were receiving property tax exemptions to which they were not entitled. Talk of the Sound has previously reported that Procopio, Chairman of the Municipal Civil Service Commission, received STAR and Combat Veteran exemptions to which he was not entitled for eight years on a property he owns at 7 Pinebrook Road. Talk of the Sound discussed the Procopio matter with Perone at his office at CIty Hall while obtaining a copy of the Property Card for 7 Pinebrook Road.

The property card shows that Dominic Procopio initially acquired an ownership interest in the property on July 16, 1999. The deed for the property shows that the property was purchased by Peter and Helena Ferrari on October 10, 1958 and that Procopio entered into an agreement to acquire ownership of the property along with Helena Ferrari under which she was allowed to remain in the home until her death. (“joint tenant with rights of survivorship)”.

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The City has claimed that Procopio began receiving the tax exemptions due to an unspecified “clerical error” in 2002 but has so far refused repeated requests to clarify the exact nature of the error, who was responsible for the error and provided any explanation of how the error occurred.

9 thoughts on “New Rochelle Tax Assessor Says Public Officials Should Report “Clerical Errors” on Tax Exemptions”

  1. Peter Ferrari Never Served in Any US Military Branch
    According to The US Department of Veterans Affairs, they have no record of anyone by the name of Peter Ferrari of 7 Pinebrook Road in New Rochelle, NY ever serving in any branch of the US Military. So I guess the “clerical error” story that Bramson and Strome keep pitching us just keeps losing integrity, just like they are.

    1. Uh Oh. Are you SURE?
      I hope this is not correct. Maybe the person who served is his wife. Did you check that too? Just in case.

      This is something I would want to ask the City to investigate as they are the ones who gave out the Combat Vet Exemption in the first place.

      1. No record of anyone with the name Ferrari…
        who lived at that address had ever served in the US Armed Forces according to the US Dept of Vet Affairs.

  2. Bramson…
    …is showing signs that he may allegedly be involved in fraud and possibly more illegal activity simply by his actions alone. By holding private meetings, allowing Domenic Procopio to continue as Municipal Civil Service Commissioner fully knowing that Mr. Procopio has been given illegal tax breaks and who knows what else and having Strome stone wall investigative reporters, and more…

    We need everyone to put pressure on the County DA’s Office to investigate the mass corruption that has plagued City Hall since Tim Idoni was mayor. Actually, everyone should call the NY State Attorney Generals Office and US Attorney Generals Office as well, because the corruption may have spread into the County level.

    Westchester County DA’s Office: (914) 995-3303
    New York State DA’s Office: (800) 771-7755
    FBI Office: (845)989-6000 – Ask for a Duty Agent

  3. procopio
    come on skip, you are not going to get someone who claims a combat or any form of veterans exemption to step up and do the right thing. i take your point on stepping up; you are right in theory and should be in practice as well. but, things like this really rankle the average taxpayer’s sense of justice and fair play. please take this away from this man without further ado — all veterans and taxpayers will thank you.

    i don’t know for a fact whether there is malfeasance involved ehre; i would prefer to think not, but a step in the right direction is to do the right thing.

    warren gross

  4. Did the previous owner have the Combat exemption?
    This probably could be easily resolved if we knew if the previous owner had the exemption and it was just left on the property when procopio took ownership.
    If so, that is the clerical error.
    However that does not mean that procopio is not a slime for collecting on the combat exemption when he didn’t deserve it. This is typical low-grade corruption that goes on when the same people (party)are in government forever. It becomes a cesspool of cronyism and unethical behavior.

    1. I sure hope the previous owner was a vet
      At this point there is no reason to believe that Peter Ferrari was not entitled to a Combat Veteran exemption and if so, that would apply to his wife.

      I believe STAR was first available in the late nineties. Since the City says it does not keep records more than six years that means that none of the original application forms for STAR are on file at City Hall. The law says they only have to keep records back six years. Therein lies the problem. The City might not have to keep records back longer but common sense would suggest the policy ought to be to keep documents that support tax exemptions that still exist no matter how old the original request.

      The City says they do not have ANY records that explain how any of the exemptions came to be. They assume that exemptions were requested by someone other than Mr. Procopio but they have no records so no way to know that.

      It seems pretty simple. If you receive money that is not yours you return it. If you do not return it you have stolen it. That the City made an “error” does not justify anything other than calling the City and telling them about the error the minute it is discovered.

      BTW, as of yesterday morning there was no record in the tax assessor system of any tax payment made prior to June 2009.

  5. I don’t think it would take
    I don’t think it would take that long for our fine staff in the tax department to flip through the bills and verify the exemptions. Pretty much everyone gets Star and there are some others.

    Why is there a lack of common sense at city hall? We ought to let Perone go and find a harder working tax assessor. Our city employees have become much to complacent, to the point where some are just waiting to collect their lofty pensions.

  6. Clerical Error My A$$…
    Keep digging and you’ll find more questionable illegal dealing between Procopio, Idoni, Strome, Bramson and many other City Officals.

    This has “Cover Up” written all over it.

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