Board won't budge on tax assessment on Fumo's home
Government bureaucrats and other officials used to cower and comply when Vince Fumo wanted something done. But the political climate seems to be changing for the former state senator, now entering the fourth month of his federal trial on corruption charges.
Government bureaucrats and other officials used to cower and comply when Vince Fumo wanted something done.
But the political climate seems to be changing for the former state senator, now entering the fourth month of his federal trial on corruption charges.
The Board of Revision of Taxes voted 5-0 this week to uphold a new assessment, nearly quadrupling the taxes on Fumo's Green Street home.
For five years, city tax assessors had failed to notice the massive renovations that turned Fumo's Spring Garden home into a 27-room showplace with seven fireplaces, an elevator and heated sidewalks. The city valued the property at just $250,000 when calculating Fumo's real-estate taxes.
But the valuation got public attention in October 2007, when Fumo put the four-story former convent up for sale, with a $7 million pricetag, subsequently reduced to $5.5 million (and still available).
A new assessment in March valued the house at $953,000 and set Fumo's property taxes at $25,215.
On Thursday, while Fumo was being wheeled from the Federal Courthouse with medical problems, the Board of Revision of Taxes rejected his appeal of that assessment.
It will likely be a week or so before Fumo and his attorney are formally notified of the board's decision. But sources said the board voted unanimously not to change the assessment. Two board members who had sided with Fumo in an earlier assessment dispute missed the meeting.
Fumo's attorney, Joseph C. Bright, argued that the city's assessors had improperly singled out his property for re-evaluation, an illegal practice known as "spot assessment."
Bright also questioned the overall accuracy of the city's assessments. He presented an analysis by appraiser Reaves C. Lukens III suggesting that properties throughout the city are significantly underassessed.
"The senator could live with some increase, but he doesn't think it's fair to multiply his assessment by four," Bright said yesterday in a telephone interview.
Fumo has the right to appeal the board's decision to Common Pleas Court. Bright said he hadn't discussed that prospect with his client. *























