Posted on 01/30/2009 7:51:02 AM PST by xcamel
Former gubernatorial aide Charles O'Byrne isn't the only prominent New Yorker with a history of tax troubles.
Twenty members of the current state Legislature have over the years been hit with state tax warrants, similar to liens, for more than $52,000 in unpaid taxes, interest and penalties, according to state records covering the past two decades obtained under the Freedom of Information law.
Additionally, former lawmakers have owed more than $62,000.
In October, O'Byrne admitted to paying more than $293,000 in state and federal back taxes and interest. He quit his post as Gov. David Paterson's top adviser after his debts came to light.
While all the sitting legislators' tax bills have been settled, payments didn't come before the politicians were listed in state documents as facing tax warrants.
Many lawmakers who received warrants pointed to confusion and mix-ups, often regarding their own employment outside of the state. (Lawmakers in both the state Senate and Assembly earn $79,500 plus extra stipends for special duties such as heading committees; taxes are automatically withheld from those paychecks.)
All of the lawmakers who have received warrants are Democrats, and all but one is from New York City. The lone exception: Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins of Yonkers.
"There was a question of what my firm paid me," said Bronx Assemblyman Peter Rivera, who between 1992 and 2007 had to pay back some $20,000.
Rivera, who operates a private law firm in addition to this work as an assemblyman, said he had also disputed some of what the state claimed he owed, but decided to pay anyway.
"Even though I didn't think I owed some of the money, I paid it," he said.
"What kills you is when you add the interest and penalties," added Marty Connor, a former Brooklyn senator and former minority leader who was ousted last November in a primary. Connor, who had warrants for more than $19,000 in 2004 and 2005, said he inadvertently underpaid taxes from his legal work over the years — an error that wasn't caught until he hired an accountant.
Also owing money in the past but no longer in office, former Bronx Sen. Efrain Gonzalez in 1985 owed $43,462. Gonzalez is under federal investigation for allegedly taking money from non-profit agencies; his lawyer refused to comment.
Gonzalez was defeated in a primary last fall by Pedro Espada, who along with fellow senators Carl Kruger of Brooklyn, Hiram Montserrate of Queens, and Ruben Diaz Jr. of the Bronx comprised a group of dissident Democrats who threatened to withhold their support for Democratic Leader Malcolm Smith.
Diaz and Espada have also had warrants, with Diaz owing more than $2,000 in 1994. He said he didn't remember the incident, but noted that he wasn't a legislator at the time, working instead as a minister and as a commissioner of New York City's Civilian Complaint Review Board, which investigated police brutality allegations. Espada said his warrant, for $949, was related to a real estate deal.
These warrants are the first step in the state's civil enforcement of tax debts, according to the state Department of Taxation and Finance. They allow the state to attach a lien on someone's property, including automobiles, real estate and other valuables.
"We can go after assets," said Taxation and Finance spokesman Tom Bergin. Additionally, the state can attach wages to get unpaid taxes but the agency doesn't reveal who is being garnisheed.
Having a listed tax warrant "is serious," said Sherry Kraus, a Rochester tax lawyer who serves on the state bar association's tax section.
Kraus, who was speaking as a tax attorney and not on behalf of the bar association, said warrants can be issued for a variety of unpaid taxes ranging from income tax to withholding tax that an employer is supposed to pay on behalf of workers.
At least one observer said the warrants should have a special sting for New Yorkers, who pay some of the nation's highest taxes.
"It doesn't send a good signal to the rest of the state if the people who are actually in charge of enacting tax laws don't follow them to the extent that the state tax agency has to go after them," remarked Steve Ellis, a vice president at Taxpayers for Common Sense, a Washington D.C.-based organization that monitors tax policy. "It certainly makes your average taxpayer ... feel like a chump."
About 9.4 million tax returns are filed each year in New York. An average of 261,543 warrants were issued per year over the past three fiscal years, with an average of 173,543 cases closed.
An average of 2,871 were vacated, or dismissed, Bergin said.
Timothy Geithner, President Barack Obama's nominee for Treasury secretary, was approved Monday by the Senate despite revelations that he had failed to pay more than $34,000 in federal taxes. Geithner eventually paid up — with one payment coming just before Obama tapped him.
Rick Karlin can be reached at 454-5758 or by e-mail at rkarlin@timesunion.com.
The taxman cometh
These current legislators have in the past 20 years received state tax warrants. All of the cases have been resolved.
Name Date Amount
Sen. Ruben Diaz 1994 $2,328.73
Sen. Martin Malave Dilan 2004 $467.91
1993 $831.41
Sen. Shirley Huntley 1998 $758
1994 $2516.42
Sen. Velmanette Montgomery 1999 $1779.17
1996 $705.72
1994 $1394.76
Sen. John Sampson 2003 $1734.03
Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins 1997 $854.34
Sen. Pedro Espada 2006 $949.51
Assemblyman Michael Benjamin 1995 $572.46
1994 $2061.72
Assemblyman Karim Camara 2008 $570.54
2004 $588.24
Assemblywoman Crystal Peoples 1990 $418.06
1988 $481.65
Assemblyman Adam Clayton Powell IV 1998 $886.06
1996 $988.77
Assemblyman Gary Pretlow 1988 $749.03
Assemblyman Philip Ramos 1999 $1185.17
Assemblyman Jose Rivera 1997 $481.32
Assemblywoman Naomi Rivera 2007 $1588.85
Assemblyman Peter Rivera 2007 $1523.66
2007 $8756.69
1993 $6666.26
1992 $3381.94
Assemblywoman Annette Robinson 1992 $2593.18
1997 $5407.83
Assemblyman William Scarborough 2000 $427.83
Assemblyman Keith Wright 1993 $1837.31
Assemblywoman Inez Barron 2006 $615.13
Total $52,473.65
Source: NYS Dept of Taxation and Finance and Secretary of State
Apparently, being a tax scofflaw is now IN
“not” paying taxes is the new “paying taxes”
at least, if you are a democrat
NY ping
In two years you won't be able to distinguish the US government from Stalin's USSR in the fifties.
You got that right. And it is moving fast. The Communists, once they get their foothold, will roll over everything. They seem proud of corruption.
HAHAHAHA!! We need to expose this......
Like anyone in NY would listen....
I know, but I try everyday in my two blogs.
Boston Tea Party on US Congress and 98% of all elected officials (those who work for also)in USA NOW!
thanks, bfl
I hope Michael Steele will have something to say about this.
— Jane Reinheimer
Hmmm.
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