City Council Candidate Owes At Least $19,000 in Back Taxes
Thursday, September 09, 2010
Providence city council candidate Steven Meresi owes the city at least $19,000 in back taxes on his properties, according to copies of his tax bills obtained by GoLocalProv.
His opponent for the Ward 13 seat, Bryan Principe, said it was unacceptable for anyone to avoid taxes - especially someone running for office.
“The city depends upon the collection of its taxes to provide city services and we’re obligated to pay our taxes and when people don’t pay their taxes, it puts an additional burden on every other taxpayer in the city,” Principe told GoLocalProv. “It’s an issue of fundamental fairness and in these tough times, where people have a tough time keeping a roof over their heads, to have someone completely delinquent—it’s unconscionable, especially when he’s running for public office.”
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTAs of September 8, Meresi still owed $19,057.98 in back taxes for a vacant building at 174 Almy Street, according to tax collector records. Meresi told GoLocalProv he is refinancing the property and had been advised by his legal counsel to get a new loan before paying the taxes. He said he was refinancing three other properties and still owed back taxes for them too. He was not sure what the total amount of owed taxes was, but said he would pay them once he was done refinancing.
Meresi told GoLocalProv he had been hit hard by the recession. “I’m not a billionaire—I’m just an average American, trying to make a living,” Meresi said. “I’m persevering. I’m negotiating with the lenders and I’m going to get through it.”
In addition to several rental properties, Meresi owns Palmieri’s Bakery on Federal Hill. He said business was off at the bakery and many of his tenants were unable to pay rent because they were out of work.
“As a result, I had to make some hard decisions,” Meresi said. “I could evict tenants for nonpayment of rent and fire some of my employees, or try to ride out the storm. I decided to try and ride out the storm. Rather than evict tenants or let loyal employees go, I delayed paying my taxes. It wasn’t an easy decision, but one I felt was in the best interest of all.”
Principe questioned how Meresi would could sit on the city council and vote on tax issues when he was behind on his own taxes. But Meresi said his in-the-trenches experience as businessman put him in a better position to deal with job creation.
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