Last night, the Common Council passed two resolutions aimed at trying to collect the more than $2.5 million due to the City in delinquent property taxes. The first resolution authorizes the mayor to enter into a contract with the law firm of Devine & Bruno to assist the City in the collection of property taxes. The second resolution authorizes the city treasurer to file the list of delinquent taxes with the Columbia County clerk and "start the proceedings necessary for the in rem foreclosure of the properties contained on the list."
Attached to the second resolution is the list of delinquent properties. There are 121 properties on the list. The amounts due on a few of them--eleven, to be exact--are so small one wonders why they are on the list at all. But there are seven properties for which more than $100,000 is owed, and of those, three properties have more than $250,000 due in unpaid property taxes and penalties. The total amount owed to the City is $2,625,855.82. COPYRIGHT 2025 CAROLE OSTERINK
It seems Hudson can not get the legal process correct. I sold property over ten years ago to the owner of Stella’s. If they no not get it right the foreclosure can not happen. P Schram
ReplyDeleteWhere can we see the list?
ReplyDeleteClick on the word "resolution" in the first line of the second paragraph and scroll down.
DeleteOf the list of delinquents, I count 8 that owe six figures. I'd say that you go after them first. --peter meyer
ReplyDeleteAs I was going through that list yesterday, I discovered that one of those properties, 98 Paddock Pl, is owned by the City of Hudson which now owes itself $177k.
DeleteI took a closer look at that property ID: The city acquired it in 2017, along with twelve other properties, in foreclosure proceedings. Hudson's treasurer Heather's name is on those dead transfers. Those other twelve properties were sold later the same year, presumably in an auction.
But 98 Paddock Pl for some reason wasn't. I then checked the school tax and indeed, the city paid a little over $3k in school taxes in 2022 but did not pay any in 2023 and 2024.
I looked at the voter registration data and three people are registered under this address having the same last name as the person the city foreclosed that property on in 2017.
Did the city just forget about this property? Are the three people living in this building paying rent to the City of Hudson? Why was it not sold? According to the taxmap data, it has a market value of $328k, it currently doesn't produce property tax and in fact costs the city school tax which it, at least sporadically, appears to pay.
You pay extremely close attention to the affairs of Hudson for someone who lives in Greenport, so I'm surprised this has escaped you, since Heather Campbell has explained the situation a few times in public meetings. I will try to recount the story. The City was pursuing foreclosure on the property, but then the owner declared bankruptcy, which somehow complicated things. Then the pandemic happened, which halted everything. The City has taken ownership of the house, but the owners are still living there. The City's only means to recoup the delinquent taxes is to sell the house, but that cannot be done until the occupants (previous owners) are evicted. I am not entirely sure why that has not yet happened.
DeleteThat has indeed escaped me. I appreciate the backstory!
DeleteSo this is quite awkward. It sounds like the city isn't being paid rent, gets no property taxes but has to pay school tax. It thus bleeds money thrice. I agree that eviction should happen.
It hasn't been done because doing it means doing something (i.e. work). This administration and its legislative counterpart are each way too busy posing for and posting on FB to actually engage in the business of governance. And, yes, this means the City is paying the county and school taxes on this property (as it is on all the delinquent properties). Which, of course, is another way of saying that those of who do pay their taxes are subsidizing all the deadbeats who are essentially leeches on the body politic of Hudson.
DeleteAnother note: the top ten non-payers are responsible for 60% of the total due. The top 2 non-payers -- a defunct church and a single-family home -- owe 21.75% of the total. The top 20 together represent over 75% of the unpaid taxes. Shameful and, frankly, abusive.
Interesting, thanks John.
DeleteThis is like the Hudson Power Law* of government neglect.
*Just a reference for Kamal so he doesn't read my comment as racist;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_law
What low hanging fruit. I’m sure a lot of the lower half of the list is just mistakes and accounting errors on the homeowner or their mortgage company. Putting out this list alone should clear out a lot of them, while at the same time, starting the foreclosure process from the biggest offenders at top of the list.
ReplyDeleteIt’s crazy that it took the council to get fired up for this to happen. Again, this is a perfect example of why a competent mayor, or city manager, would have prevented this situation in the first place. It’s the mundane day-to-day functions of the city that keep it running. How much notice was given to the people who are racking up late penalties? And how fair is it to people who struggle to pay their taxes on time have to cover for those that don’t.
The backlog of parking tickets is another low hanging fruit of money owed to the city. I don’t see why the city can’t forward the list of scofflaws to the DMV for license or registration suspensions. Instead the mayor ran an amnesty program that only a handful of people took advantage of to pay.
There’s a common theme with our current administration. Whether it’s parking tickets, sidewalks, taxes, and even Pilots. The message is clear: those who pay their fair share and on time are seen as suckers.
No truer words ever spoken about suckers.
ReplyDeleteWonder how many water bills go unpaid also.?????
Vanessa Grener