Yorktown Supervisor Pays Back Taxes for Grace Building
Following two published reports about his tax arrears, including one in the Northern Westchester Examiner, Yorktown Supervisor Michael Grace decided last week to pay the property taxes owed on a commercial building he owns across the street from Town Hall.
Receiver of Taxes Barbara Korsak confirmed Friday that Grace paid $29,119.10 on October 27 for his property at 360 Underhill Avenue, which is listed under Grace Family Realty, Inc. Korsak said the payment brought Grace current on his taxes. The second part of his school taxes, about $6,620, are not due until the end of January.
Grace, running for a third term today (Tuesday), publicly admitted he was behind on his taxes when he was questioned at an October 20 meeting by Nick Witkowich, a resident of Maple Hill Street, who has had legal battles with the town over the last seven years regarding a neighbor’s garage that was approved by the Zoning Board of Appeals.
“Yes I owe something. I am unapologetic about being behind on my taxes. I had no choice,” Grace remarked at the meeting. “I challenge anyone in this room to stand up that hasn’t gone through a tough time in their life. I’ve lived 59 years. I’ve been through a lot. This is not the first time I was flat on my butt financially in some regards. I’m going through a hard period.”
Witkowich said last week putting him on the spot forced Grace to pay off his debt to the town.
“150% the article forced him to pay this portion of the taxes,” Witkowich said. “At the last Town Board meeting we asked about it, Grace and his ‘rubber stamps’ never addressed the issue, except for Grace saying he was broke. If the article had run after the election he would not have paid any portion of it.”
During the meeting, Grace maintained his financial woes were caused by “family issues,” namely a son who the supervisor said he had “spent hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars” trying to get well.
Last week, he told a reporter he had “reallocated my resources” in order to get the Grace Building out of the red.
Witkowich raised questions about how Grace was able to pay his taxes, stating, “I want to make sure that the check was deposited and did clear. I think the taxpayers have a right to know that no town funds or campaign funds were used to pay down the debt. Also we should find out if a campaign backer lent (gave) him the money in exchange for future favors.”
Meanwhile, Korsak noted Grace still owed more than $8,000 in taxes on a piece of property he owned next to his home at 959 Hanover Street, a residence he purchased in 2001 that currently is on the market.
Rick has more than 40 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, running the gamut from politics and crime to sports and human interest. He has been an editor at Examiner Media since 2012. Read more from Rick’s editor-author bio here. Read Rick’s work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/pezzullo_rick-writer/
