Latimer says wife will stave off foreclosure on Rye house by paying $20k in tax arrears
Westchester County Executive George Latimer says he and his wife won’t let the house she inherited from her mother years ago be taken by the city of Rye in tax foreclosure.
Faced with delinquent school taxes and interest penalties to the Rye City schools of $20,256, the city of Rye in August notified Robin Phelps Latimer that she had until Nov. 22 to halt the foreclosure process by paying the arrears.
The arrears came from the nonpayment of school taxes in 2021 and 2022. By not paying, she has incurred $1,637 in interest penalties.
George Latimer said on Monday that Robin would pay her school tax bill by the November deadline.
“The city advised my wife of the obligation for school taxes – approximately $20,000 – and established a date in November for full payment due, which will be met,” Latimer wrote in a text message. “The house is current for all city and county taxes.”
Playland taxes: Judge rules Rye erred by revoking Playland Park property-tax exemption
In the past, the city of Rye had been reluctant to commence foreclosure proceedings on delinquent taxpayers, content to enjoy the eventual income stream from interest penalties, even though that meant fronting the money owed to the school district from city coffers. That has now changed, with Rye seeking to foreclose on seven properties in August.
The Latimer house at 60 Roosevelt Ave. is located next door to the Wainwright Street home where Robin and George Latimer reside, across the street from the county’s Playland amusement park. The county just won its challenge to the city assessor's decision to put Playland Park on the property-tax rolls after the park’s new private manager, Standard Amusements, began its 30-year stint in 2022.
His wife’s latest tax delinquency comes four years after the county executive announced he would take responsibility for crafting a plan for his wife pay off seven years of delinquent taxes on the modest home she inherited several years ago from her mother.
Latimer in 2019: I'll take responsibilty on tax arrears at wife's house
In 2019, the delinquent tax bill had reached $77,000, with $18,000 in penalties to the Rye City schools. It had become a political headache for Latimer, who had come under attack from then-County Executive Rob Astorino during their 2017 election campaign. It lingered while he served in his first term as county executive.
Then the headache returned to the Latimer household. It comes as Latimer considers whether to seek higher office as his second, and final, four-year term nears its midpoint.
His name has surfaced as a possible 2024 challenger to Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-Yonkers, in a Democratic Congressional primary next June. Bowman made national news on Saturday when he pulled the fire alarm in the House of Representatives as he rushed to vote to keep the government from shutting down on Saturday.
Latimer is not expected to decide about the race until a lawsuit challenging the 2022 Congressional lines gets settled by the state's highest court, and he knows where he'd be running.
Republicans say that Bowman should be charged with a crime for intentional pulling the fire alarm when there was no fire. They've quoted Bowman's statement about Donald Trump's multiple indictments, when he said that no one was above the law.
Rye Republican Julie Killian said the Latimers have learned that too.
"As Jamaal Bowman like to remind us, no one is above the law," she said.
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David McKay Wilson writes about tax issues and government accountability. Follow him on Twitter @davidmckay415 or email him at dwilson3@lohud.com.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Facing foreclosure, George Latimer's wife to pay $20k in tax arrears
