I-Team: Boston's Top Tax Delinquents
BOSTON (CBS) - An overwhelming majority of Boston residents pay their taxes and do it on time. However, some of the city's wealthiest property investors are not as reliable. The I-Team tracked down Boston's top tax delinquents.
When someone's main address is a 15 room mansion on Beacon Street and his property portfolio adds up to tens of millions of dollars, you might think, paying property taxes would be a given.
But Back Bay real estate investor Joe Perroncello finds himself on the list of the city's top tax delinquents. It's a list his name has been on several times.
The I-Team tried to call him for answers but could not get in touch, so we approached him outside one of his buildings. "The City of Boston says you owe about $400,000. Just trying to get your side of the story about what's going on here," I-Team Reporter Lauren Leamanczyk asked. Perroncello just walked back inside.
"There are certainly families and names that are almost always on the list of top 10 or top 20 when they are requested," said City of Boston Chief Financial Officer David Sweeney.
"So when you're a tax payer and you see that, what can you say to them when they say I pay my taxes why doesn't he have to pay his?," the I-Team asked.
"It is a matter of fairness for those people who do pay their taxes on time," Sweeney said.
Topping the list of the city's top tax delinquents is the owner of an empty parcel of land on the water in East Boston. He owes the city more than $2 million.
There's a corner property in Roxbury that's $1.2 million in property tax debt. A roller rink in Dorchester is behind $443,000.
All together the top ten delinquents total $7.89 million in unpaid property taxes.
"There should be no freeloaders, everyone should be paying taxes on the property they own," said one South Boston homeowner.
"It's not fair. Own millions of dollars in property and not pay taxes?," said another Boston taxpayer.
Sweeney says 99 percent of residents do pay on time. For those who don't, there's an interest rate of up to 16 percent. The city can even seize property but that requires a lengthy legal process.
"A lot of those bills are ultimately satisfied and the city is made whole through the interest," said Sweeney.
That doesn't seem to convince the Stamatos family. They own dozens of properties all over Boston. The properties are often on Inspectional Services radar screen, racking up stacks of violations.
"If you own a development in the City of Boston, you should liable to pay those taxes. You should take care of your residents," said tenant Vanessa Martinez.
At the end of last year, the city said the Stamatos family owed more than $800,000. The I-Team called Christos Stamatos and the very next day he wrote a check.
But months later, he is still behind $381,000 on his property taxes. When the I-Team approached him outside his Jamaica Plain office, Stamatos simply said "no comment."
Later, in an email, Stamatos insisted the city's numbers are wrong. He says he pays his taxes and is getting ready to write another check.