Who do you think the above quote came from?
If you said me, you are wrong.
In 2007, Gary Paparozzi was Lodi’s mayor. Currently, he is a borough employee with the
title “Technical Inspector”. Separate
from being on the borough payroll, he also appears on the borough’s monthly
bills for the NO BID contract he received for “Planning”.
Gary Paparozzi purchased house on Bell Ave in 2005
for $440,000. Shortly after, his
assessment dropped to $321,000. He sold
the house in 2009 for $415,000.
The numbers
speak for themselves. The reduction for a
then sitting mayor cannot be justified.
In 2014 alone, the property taxes on the property were $4,438 less due to the Paparozzi reduction.
Today’s estimate from Zillow is $433,210, which is
$111,810 above the assessed value.
But if you aren’t a member of the “family and friends”
plan, and you enter your address on Zillow, it likely will show that you are
over assessed. How can there be such a disparity?
The Lodi politicians made strong accusations against
Paparozzi during that campaign. You would think that this administration would investigate the tax
reductions for “family and friends”. You
would think that there would be some form of transparency and accountability
from the assessor’s office.
Unfortunately,
even more tax reductions for “family and friends” took place after the 2007
election. This administration even used
their Borough Attorney to fight the “in house reductions” from
being released.
But there is no question that these special favors
have taken place. I exposed the tax
assessor’s actions at a public council meeting with him in attendance. What the tax assessor said at that meeting
was so damaging to this administration, this is what was left on the minutes:
“(Due to individuals not speaking into the microphone, Borough Clerk was
unable to get more of the conversation. Borough Clerk is going to recommend
individuals speak directly into the microphone when speaking.)”
The microphone worked for
the rest of that meeting. Minutes are
posted on the borough website dating back to 2008. The microphone worked for those
meetings. But the microphone didn’t work
when the “in house reductions” were questioned.
Your last name shouldn’t
determine what you pay in property taxes.
