Greenburgh Insider: Town Board rejects request to waive penalties on late taxes.

 

A vendor the town hired was supposed to send out tax bills. A computer glitch resulted in over 1000 taxpayers not getting bills. Board members differ on whether state law allows tax penalties to be waived. I disagreed with decision

The Greenburgh Town Board did not approve my request that penalties be reduced or waived for Greenburgh taxpayers that paid their taxes late because they did not receive a tax bill in the mail due to a computer glitch caused by the vendor the town hired.  I am extremely disappointed in the decision. As a result, those who are late in paying their tax bills will continue to see their penalties increase each month unless the bill is paid in full. The penalty increases on August 1.

 

There is an honest disagreement among Board members as to whether state law allows local governments to waive penalties. The Town Attorney and I believe that the Town Board has the legal authority to waive penalties if we pass a resolution stating that the waiver is in the best interest of the town. I pointed out that we always sent taxpayers bills in the mail, people relied on the bills which they did not receive. And that a vendor hired by the town (an agent of the town) made a computer glitch mistake causing over 1000 taxpayers not to receive their bills. I believe that since the error was made by an agent of the town that it would have been in the best interests of the town to waive or reduce  the penalties. Taxpayers complained to me about a 5% penalty. 

 

Other Town Board members read the law more conservatively than the Town Attorney or myself. Councilman Francis Sheehan, Diana Juettner and Gina Jackson believe that NYS law does not allow waivers of penalties.  They shared RPTL 922 which states that taxpayers are responsible for paying taxes whether they receive bills or not.  Councilman Ken Jones recused himself from voting since he had to pay a late fee himself.

 

I have asked the Town Attorney to investigate whether we have any action against the vendor we hired (if he was responsible for the computer glitch). We paid the vendor to mail out bills which did not happen.  I have also asked the Town Attorney to seek a formal legal opinion from the NYS Comptroller –asking for an updated opinion on whether the Town Board has any flexibility waiving or reducing excessive penalties.  An updated opinion could provide guidance to municipal officials from around the state. 

 

Going forward the town will order signs reminding taxpayers that taxes must be paid by the end of September, January and April when we collect school taxes (Jan & September) and county, town and fire district taxes (April). Hopefully, this will remind everyone to pay their bills on time and avoid penalties.  The signs will be placed at key locations around town.   I am very sorry for all the aggravation so many taxpayers have experienced as a result of the computer glitch. 

PAUL FEINER

Greenburgh Town Supervisor