Posted on 10/07/2010 9:59:06 PM PDT by jocon307
Suzanne M. Bump, the Democratic nominee for state auditor, considers the Berkshire town of Great Barrington her home. She and her husband vote and register their cars there. It is the address she lists on the Nov. 2 ballot.
Because of that, she receives a benefit: exemption from paying a personal property tax levied on homeowners who are not full-time residents.
But Bump and her husband, Paul F. McDevitt, have saved more than $6,000 in Boston property taxes since 2006 by reporting that a condominium they own in South Boston is their principal residence, according to tax and property records examined by the Globe.
In an interview Monday, Bump insisted that she is legally entitled to both tax breaks.
“There is nothing wrong with what I am doing,’’ said Bump, a lawyer, who, if elected auditor next month, would be responsible for ensuring that taxpayer money is used appropriately. “I am completely within the law, both the letter and the spirit of the law,’’ she said.
On Tuesday, however, the state Department of Revenue said that no taxpayer can claim residential status in more than one community in order to receive multiple tax breaks.
“A taxpayer can only have one principal or primary residence for property tax purposes,’’ spokesman Robert Bliss said after conferring with Revenue Department tax specialists. “You cannot take a property tax break in two different communities.’’
His opinion was echoed by two assessing commissioners and the executive director of the Massachusetts Association of Assessing Officers.
“You cannot say you have two principal residences; pick one,’’ said Anthony Trodella, principal assessor in Marlborough, which, along with Boston, is one of 14 communities that offer property tax exemptions to people whose homes are their principal residences.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
And this woman maintains what she did was OK, but she'll pay more if asked.
The government entities involved are non-committal, hey she might be in charge of them next year, so can you blame them?
Another disgusting Democrat.
These people must be driven out of power, permanently.
Tip o'the hat to Instapundit.
Oh yeah, and kudos to the Globe for listing her party affiliation in the first sentence, that is pretty amazing right there.
Read the comments too, they are mostly good.
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