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SCHENECTADY
Council relents, won’t cut water, garbage pickup
BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter

The City Council is backing off the mayor’s idea of cutting water and trash pickup to taxdelinquent properties. Tenants protested as soon as the idea was floated last month, saying that it wouldn’t be fair for them to lose water service because their landlord wasn’t paying the taxes. City Council members agreed. “You just can’t do that,” Council President Denise Brucker said. Councilman Vince Riggi added, “In theory, it sounds like a good idea. But there would be innocent people who would suffer.” According to city tax records, many of the tax-delinquent properties are owned by people who do not live in this area. In some cases, the buildings are vacant. In others, the landlord is renting them out but not paying taxes.
    Not every tax-delinquent property is used by tenants, though. The city has struggled with high-profile business owners who refused to pay taxes, including a former councilman who renovated houses for a living. He never paid taxes until the house sold, arguing that the late fee was the price of doing business.
    Most recently, Frank Popolizio closed his Pentagon 1978 restaurant after not paying any taxes during the two years that he ran the establishment.
    In those cases, cutting water and trash pickup would directly impact the property owner.
    Brucker said she’s still open to using the proposal in cases like those, and Mayor Gary Mc-Carthy said that’s exactly how he wanted to use the servicecutting law.
    “It would be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. There would be hardship cases or other things. I’m not going to look to create dire straits for people who are innocent victims,” he said. .........................>>>>.................>>>>....................................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00103&AppName=1

Yeah McCarthy, you can't cut off services to businesses who don't pay their taxes!

The Metroplex funded businesses like Cornells and the Parker Inn didn't pay.

Your buddy Popolizio NEVER pays on his properties (hey, do you have a special person in the building inspectors office who wears a blindfold everytime they respond to a complaint at one of Frank's buildings?)

Taxpayers are footing the bill for the crooked. You know that 1.5 million owed to the County, that could be settled with all that Popolizio owes in back and current taxes to the City.  

Popolizio will be the sacrificial lamb for the elected officials past 'bad behavior'!! It's funny how after 'another county' called popolizio out on animal cruelty charges, schenectady seemed to jump on the band wagon................like this is the first time they knew he was 'questionable'??????

So it appears that not only is popolizio being exposed for 'bad behavior'..............so are schenectady's elected officials for years of doing the same by letting this guy get away with delinquent taxes after delinquent taxes for years and years.

imho