Top Lincoln Official Uses Job to Avoid Taxes
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Frank Sylvester, the fire chief for the Lime Rock Fire District in Lincoln, registered two of his personal cars in Lincoln this year— a 2007 Lexus and a 2006 Ford Explorer. The tax rate on cars in Lincoln is $30.66 per $1,000 of the assessed value—compared to a rate of $53.30 in Pawtucket, which is the second-highest one in Rhode Island.
Sylvester paid a total of $1,245.56 in taxes on those cars to Lincoln, according to town tax records obtained by GoLocalProv. Had he paid taxes on those cars at the Pawtucket rate, he would have owed nearly $900 more in taxes, or $2,122.67 to be exact.
In 2009, Sylvester registered a third car in Lincoln—a 2003 Ford T-bird. In fact, tax records show that he has been registering one or more of his cars in Lincoln at least since 2004. And he has admitted to GoLocalProv that he has been registering his cars at his workplace since he became fire chief in 1988.
Group Claims Fire Chief Is Breaking the Law
A local taxpayer advocate says Sylvester should not be using public property for his personal benefit. “Obviously, the fire station is public property and he has no business registering his vehicles there,” said John Cullen, a member of the Lime Rock Taxpayer Group. “It’s a character issue. It goes to a public servant abusing his power and the Lime Rock commissioners aiding and abetting this misbehavior and possible illegal behavior.”
But Sylvester said his actions were legal. He said he checked with the enforcement division of the DMV just to make sure.
State law says that owners of cars must pay taxes in the town where they permanently live, unless “a vehicle or trailer is customarily kept in some other town or city.” Marcy Coleman, an attorney for the DMV, said that exception could apply to Sylvester.
Sylvester OK with Registering His Cars in Pawtucket
Sylvester told GoLocalProv he does not believe he is doing anything wrong. But if he were, he would be happy to register his cars in Pawtucket. “If it’s not right, I’ll change it, but it’s not against the law,” Sylvester said. “I’m not breaking any law.”
He said he started registering his cars at the fire station when he first started out as fire chief because he was using them to plow the driveway around the station. He continues to register the cars there, even though he stopped handling the plowing several years ago.
Each year, he said he typically registers two of his cars there—one for the winter and one for the summer. He uses a town-issued car to drive to and from work. That allows him to go to an after-hours fire in an official Fire Department car, instead of using his own—which is better for insurance purposes, according to Sylvester.
Sylvester said he was not sure if other fire chiefs in Rhode Island did the same thing.
He accused the taxpayer group of bringing up the issue to rile up voters in advance of the annual meeting of voters in the fire district, which is in October.
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Comments:
Mike Hamel
7:39am on Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Now, because of this story, you really expect another elected official, state or local, to jump in and rail in protest? Do you? I would be willing to wager, and I am not a betting man, that there is a lot more, of this, going on than we know. How many people travel back and forth between RI and southern states, every winter and have their vehicles registered there and not here, as required by law.
In truth, how many of us, wouldn't do the same thing to avoid the obscene taxes we have to pay. They are particularly high, in light, of the dismal services we get in return.
No, print all these stories you want, the simple fact remains that, at every level of public service, or elected official jobs, these shenanigans are happening and one will not turn on the other, because then their deceitful and I think, criminal house of cards will fall on them.
We, the voters, have put a truly remarkable criminal enterprise in place. We have deceit, corruption and down right scorn and disrespect for the average citizen at every level, in this state and they have become so entrenched, in those positions, that they will do anything to stay there.
This is what happens when power in so concentrated in one body. It's also what happens when we, the voters, have such an apathetic attitude. Simply by our silence, we have let this outrage occur and when we started to recognize it, our solution was to bury our heads in the sand or sing that old RI refrain,"Hey, Whats the difference? They're all crooks anyway, so why bother?"
I think a reread of what's been happening, here in RI, for the last 50 years would provide all the answers you need to that statement.
TOM LETOURNEAU
7:56am on Tuesday, August 17, 2010
So what the Crooked Chief is doing is NOT against the law....eh!
It is completely against the law and he knows it as RI has a number of laws specifying what, when or where as to vehicle registration....and the problem, besides the games being played by Chief Sylvester is even worse with all of the vehicles being registered out of State in order to completely EVADE local community vehicle taxes here in Rogues' Island wherein local officials are allowing to happen!
With the financial mess we have in this State.....and now with a lot of it caused by the State reneging on reimbursing the cities and towns what has been the State's share of the vehicle property/excise tax, something needs to be done wherein local elected and appointed officials, along with the police, begin cracking down on the thousands of scofflaws that are registering their vehicles out of State (NH, VT and FL the most common) so as to avoid RI Sales Tax or Vehicle Property Tax.
Here in Cumberland, we have hundreds of these kinds of situations and in one particular case, one family, a family that has cost the town of Cumberland and the State of Rhode Island millions of dollars as a result of a contaminated and haphazardness waste dump (landfill) that they ran along the banks of the Blackstone River! Information can be found in this EPA Report which also covered an adjacent parcel that being the old Peterson-Puritan Chemical Site!
http://www.epa.gov/region1/superfund/sites/peterson/46483.pdf
http://yosemite.epa.gov/r1/npl_pad.nsf/f52fa5c31fa8f5c885256adc0050b631/11026F953383AD178525691F0063F6E6?OpenDocument
For this, the Cumberland family that owned and operated this site, have been fined over 1-million dollars and never paid a cent!
In addition they own a farm in VT wherein they, their extended family and friends (I have been told) keep all of their BIG BUCK vehicles registered in VT so as to avoid Cumberland Property tax...which is due this town as they all live here and keep those vehicle here and in use in Rogue's Island! It has been estimated (see sample photos taken of these vehicles on their property in Northern Cumberland) that hey are doing this with close to 25-vehicles!
And, what makes matters worse, with back taxes due, along with penalties and interest.....overall, and using only approximately 100-vehicle as a basis for a mathematical calculation as to how much all of these out state vehicles have evaded in taxes that then needed to be made up with higher taxes paid by honest citizens....the amount is easily in excess of $400,000.00!
Yet the Town of Cumberland, as is the case with other communities, won't bother going after these people and these back taxes as they say it is not worth the trouble and expense to do so!
AND....that $400,000.00, and this is just for Cumberland....is a conservative calculation!
LASTLY...as to Chief Sylvester claiming what he is doing is not illegal....I have been discussing this entire issue with the head of enforcement for the RI-DMV and here is an e-mail he sent to me with the different RI Laws that can be applicable to such situations as you write and I informed you of...above
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Reference: Out of State Motor Vehicles
Date: Tue, 03 Aug 2010 15:40:05 -0400
From: Joseph Monteiro <josephm@dmv.ri.gov>
To: <alfaracer1@cox.net>
Tom, first my apologies for not getting back to you sooner, but It been very hectic here.
The laws you are looking for are as follows:
31-1-18 Resident and Non resident
31-3-4 Proof of Payment of sales or Use tax
31-3-34 Notice of Change of Address
31-3-35 Notice of Change of Name
31-3-3.1a Notice to division of motor vehicles of vehicle lease agreement
31-7-1 Right to operate on foreign registration
Hope this helps you and again sorry it took so long, but I did Not forget.
Good Luck
Joe Monteiro
Enforcement Section RI DMV
Pam Thomas
7:41am on Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Taxpayers are paying him well enough to buy a Lexus but he scams us for 900 bucks. Character issue, indeed. Pay us back, chief. You been caught.