A tax lien sale notice spanning six newspaper pages reveals $1.16 million owed to the Plainfield Municipal Utilities Authority, mainly by homeowners across the city. The PMUA provides sewer and solid waste services to Plainfield through an interlocal service agreement. Ratepayers are billed four times a year. The tax liens are on money owed for more than a year. Amounts owed range from $96.89 on a Pineview Terrace property to $47,160.81 for two apartment complexes owned by United Plainfield Housing Corp.
The tax lien sale will take place at 10 a.m. on June 9 in City Hall Library, 515 Watchung Ave. Bidders must register on or before May 28. Investors purchase the liens and pay the amount owed, which is then owed to them at interest rates of up to 18 percent. Click here for an explanation of tax lien sales from the state Division of Local Government Services.
Former Mayor Harold Mitchell, now chairman of the PMUA board of commissioners, said that even though times are hard, the bills must be paid.
"If they don't pay, then everybody else carries the load for them, like anything else," Mitchell said.
Mitchell said the PMUA sent staff to City Hall to help set up the sale. More than 1,100 properties are involved.
The list does not include multi-family properties owned by landlord David Connolly's subsidiaries where the PMUA is under a bankruptcy court order to provide service even though not receiving full payment. The authority also felt a fiscal blow when Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center closed in August 2008.
"It's not just the Connolly properties. It's everything," Mitchell said.
--Bernice Paglia
--Bernice Paglia
Remind me again how the PMUA was going to be a bnefit to the community? Oh yeah .... jobs for the connected.
ReplyDeleteThis is the exact problem with the PMUA. Too much power. The reality is that a homeowner who is on a tight budget and makes the "mistake" of putting extra garbage out or leaving the cart out past the allowable time can quickly rack up fees which become impossible to pay. We also have those property owners who use multi-family homes as single families but are still billed by the PMUA as multi-families. That can quickly add up too. Unfortunately, because the PMUA only cares about lining their own pockets and the pockets of their friends and families these lien sales will be a regular occurrence for years to come. That is until we accomplish all of our goals.
ReplyDeleteDo these properties pay their fair share of the supposed "shared services"? I heard they have capped it at 10 for the shared services on apartments. Doesn't sound fair to me. Does the PMUA collect these fees from the owner of Park Ave where the monthly rent is $17,000?
ReplyDeleteAfter the lien sale and the monies are paid back to PMUA, does the PMUA issue a refund since according to Mitchell (whoever he is)
"If they don't pay, then everybody else carries the load for them, like anything else," Mitchell said.
BLOATED BLOATED BLOATED.