Threat to Taxpayers — Mount Vernon Urban Renewal Agency Meeting — September 18, 2018
A regularly scheduled Urban Renewal Agency Meeting was held on September 18, 2018 at 11:30am in the Mayor’s Conference Room. The following members of the board were present: Chairman Richard Thomas, Vice Chair Lawrence Porcari, Council President Lisa Copeland, and Treasurer Darren Morton. Comptroller Deborah Reynolds was present at City Hall but left the conference room immediate prior to the meeting and refused to participate.
On the agenda to be discussed were updates regarding bills and communication, the report of the Executive Director, reports of Committees, unfinished business and new business. There were two (2) resolutions for consideration on the agenda that were passed by the body:
1. Authorizing the agency to apply for the FY2018 African American Civil Rights (AACR) History Grant
2. Appointing Officers to the 2018 City of Mount Vernon Agency
An executive session was held by the board to discuss correspondence and concerns from retirees and the meeting was then adjourned.
To view the agenda, please visit: www.cmvny.com/ura-agendas/
To see the full video, please visit: www.facebook.com/MayorRichardThomas/videos/316590585812376/
One of the most important items on the September 18th Mount Vernon Urban Renewal Agency agenda was a discussion about the threat to Mount Vernon taxpayers posed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development [HUD].
The threat derives from past due reports that were incomplete. As URA Deputy Director Sylvia Bolivar explained, four years worth of the Agency’s CAPERS reports were flagged by the federal government. Some of these reports, required to be submitted annually under federal law, contained errors from the time periods of previous administration. The reports that HUD flagged date from 2011–2014. These citations by HUD are serious enough to warrant a potential $8 million in payback to the federal government. As the Deputy Director detailed to the Board, approximately $2 million had been allocated to the city from HUD every year. The 2011–2014 reports have all been flagged meaning HUD can claw back those previous allocations — FOR A TOTAL OF $8 MILLION. Four years of bad reports at $2 million each is a heavy tax burden we don’t.
City Council President Lisa Copeland and Mayor Richard Thomas are deeply concerned about this threat to Mount Vernon. Both explained in the meeting and in discussions with staff.
As the Thomas administration previously warned, “if the Federal Government requires repayment of the missing funds, that would result in a 12% property tax increase, in and of itself. This spike in taxes penalizes taxpayers for the egregious errors of past mismanagements. The facts, in this case, are clear. As she left office, former Comptroller Maureen Walker admitted that the city’s finances are in jeopardy because of these outstanding liabilities. All efforts have been undertaken by the Thomas administration to reduce costs and responsibly utilize limited resources to make government work for the people.”
Many of these are concerns that the Administration presented in a March 9th memo.
