"SCHENECTADY — The city has so far convinced the owners of 131 properties to pay back their taxes after threatening them with foreclosure on Aug. 31.
But city officials would like the number to be larger, considering there are 693 properties on the foreclosure list. But many of the owners could not be found, have disputed the amount owed or have declared bankruptcy – meaning the city must provide more time before moving forward with legal proceedings.
City Attorney John Polster said Wednesday he didn't know how much money has flowed into city coffers as a result of the foreclosure threat, which targets owners who owe property taxes or water, sewer or garbage fees from 2008 and 2009. But calculating the total based on the $16,000 average owed per property means the city has hit a windfall of up to $2.1 million.
The revenue is sorely needed now that the city has almost no money in its unrestricted reserves to help balance the 2013 budget.
Mayor Gary McCarthy said targeting tax delinquency is key now that the city's what is called "uncollectibility" has jumped from 4 percent in 2009 to 12 percent today.
"We've got to get away from people who were thumbing their nose at the system and not paying," McCarthy said.City officials are conducting their first foreclosures since 2003. Between 2004 and 2010, Schenectady was selling the right to collect on its tax delinquencies to American Tax Funding of Jupiter, Fla., and therefore had no authority to foreclose on those liens.
On Aug. 31, Polster will appear in state Supreme Court in Schenectady to foreclose on 237 properties on the list as of Wednesday. In those cases, the owners have not responded to the city's foreclosure notices.
Property owners who miss that deadline have until the end of September to get their property back by paying a $1,000 penalty in addition to the back taxes.
The status of the other properties is: 46 are involved in bankruptcy proceedings; 20 owner-occupied homes have filed for a homesteader exemption and have another year to pay their bills; 40 property owners are disputing the amount owed; 214 properties have liens that are also held by American Tax Funding and must be dealt with separately, and 266 properties the city can not find the owners of had to post foreclosure notices at the addresses. These numbers add up to more than the total 693 properties on the foreclosure list because some of them and their situations overlap.
Next month, many of those 266 seemingly abandoned properties, including numerous vacant lots, might be foreclosed on after enough time has been given for the signs to be posted.
Also in September, the city will begin foreclosure proceedings on those who have not paid property taxes or water, sewer and garbage fees from 2010-11. That number, which is separate from those who owed taxes from 2008-09, stands at about 1,100 properties. The property owners on that list will have until March to pay the bill.
In the meantime, the city's law office has been inundated with calls from owners asking how they can save their properties. Polster's answer, and that of his staff, has been a simple one: pay the bill."
lstanforth@timesunion.com • 518-454-5697
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http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/City-tax-scofflaws-paying-up-3808025.php#ixzz24NCW8jI5Yep Benny. McCheesy getting mad at those non-paying tax people....but how about Marcella, Mallozi, Bombers, Morris, the hair school??? All those non-paying FOR PROFIT entities the City provides many services for like lighting, plowing, garbage, water, police.
These people aren't thumbing their noses at the City, they're actually giving us the middle finger.