I wish I knew, but I will try to find out. I also hope, but doubt the community around the Tanner Duckery School at 12th & Diamond Sts. will continue to agitate the SDP over their plan to give land behind the school worth $400,000 for $1 to a corporation represented by School Reform Commission President¹ law firm. Talk about conflict of interest and corrupt dealings.
On 4/18/10 1:47 PM, "mcget...@aol.com" <mcget...@aol.com> wrote: > > Sorry, the name of the developer at 43rd and Baltimore is James, not Joe, > Campenella. He pled guilty in Federal court for his bribery of a BRT tax > assessor named James Lynch. In return for a $20,000 bribe, Mr. Lynch lowered > the tax assessment on four properties Campenella was involved with. One of > the buildings he re-assessed was the Western Union Building at 11th and > Locust. He lowered its assessment from $4.6 to $1.6 million. Campenella's > defense? He just wanted to spare himself the lawyer's fees necessary to > challenge the city's assessment! I can't say for sure, but I assume that > since he was appearing before a Federal judge, he said this with a straight > face. > > Don't get me started on the property taxes on 43rd and Baltimore. When I > checked the BRT site around the time of the demolition of the building there, > I noticed that the new owner had not paid any property taxes for over a year. > I contacted the BRT in February of last year (before the Inquirer series) and > asked how come a $3 million property that had been owned by a for-profit > developer for over a year was assessed at $0. He replied that it took time > for the BRT to recognize such a change and to collect the taxes. He told me > that "my" tax assessment, when they got around to it, would be about $80,000 > annually. I quickly informed him that I was not the owner, merely a > tax-paying neighbor. To my amazement, not too long after, the property's BRT > record showed an assessment of around $80,000! The owners obviously got to > work on that and had it reduced to around $8,000, as I recall. (Since, Mr. > Lynch had been fired from the BRT, I wonder who they called.) I haven't looked > at the BRT site since then. I am astonished however, that this multi-million > dollar property is assessed at less than double the amount of my Pine Street > twin. (How does this compare with what you pay in property tax?) > > I would guess that this is one of the reasons for the city's foot-dragging > over the overhauling of the assessments of real estate in Philadelphia - how > to limit the damage to all the well-connected who have benefitted for years > from unjustifiably low assessments. This is a classic example of what I call > "the Philadelphia Dilemma": how can a politician respond to the taxpayer's > demands for action, while protecting the special interests that he/she believe > sustain him/her. Is this situation common outside our city, our era? Of > course. But I believe that the long history and profoundly harmful effects of > this conflict in Philadelphia have earned it naming rights. > > The Inquirer reports only confirmed probably the worst-kept secret in > Philadelphia - that the BRT was run by a bunch of corrupt and incompetent > patronage hacks. > > Mary > > P.S. So, all you lawyers, journalists, real estate agents, politicians and > just plain neighbors who are more plugged in than I am: Do any of you know > what is planned for 43rd and Baltimore? Does anyone have a suggestion for a > good use for this large and nicely-situated property? > >
