Ansonia Republican mayoral candidate David Cassetti showed the Valley Indy a total of nearly $15,000 in receipts for payments he made to the city’s tax collector’s office Thursday (Sept. 19) to bring three businesses he owns current on their tax obligations to the city.
The receipts totaled $14,804.27.
Added to a $1,615.63 payment he made Wednesday, that means Cassetti has paid a total of $16,419.90 to the city’s tax office this week.
A Valley Indy story published Wednesday, citing the city’s online tax database, revealed Cassetti’s three businesses — Birm‑I Construction Company, Valley Contractor and Supply Company, and SALJD Riverside Properties — owed more than $15,000 in real estate and motor vehicle taxes to the city that were overdue as of Aug. 1.
Of that total, $1,666.74 was due Jan. 1, 2013, and had been delinquent since Feb. 1, 2013.
When asked about he tax bills Wednesday, Cassetti said he had been shorthanded in his office.
Democratic Alderman Edward Adamowski started asking about the late payments Tuesday.
Republican Town Committee Chairman John Marini then slammed Adamowski, alleging he was playing “gutter politics.”
The two Aldermen also wrote dueling guest columns in the Valley Indy reacting to the story.
Click here to read Adamowski’s.
Click here to read Marini’s.
‘I Wasn’t Upset’
Cassetti said Thursday he didn’t have a problem with the Democrat raising the issue.
“I wasn’t upset. I’m running for mayor of Ansonia,” Cassetti said. “I’m a 25-year businessman in town, and of course your taxes should be paid.”
Click the play button on the video above to see Cassetti’s comments.
Cassetti said the taxes hadn’t been paid on time because of a simple lapse.
“It was just an oversight in my office,” he said. “Everything was at the bottom of the pile. I made sure we made payment as soon as possible, as soon as they brought this issue up.”
“I’m hoping that this puts everything to rest and we can move on with this campaign,” he went on.
Cassetti took the occasion of an interview Thursday to say he’d be pressing the city for about $9,000 for work his company did installing conduit on Main Street last summer for new street lights that were recently installed by United Illuminating.
He said he sent an invoice to the city for the work totaling $8,550 in January, and that he’d send a new invoice with about $800 interest added.
But Eileen Krugel, the city’s grant writer responsible for paying out bills on the project, and also the chairwoman of the Democratic Town Committee, said she had never seen an invoice in January, and that Cassetti had agreed to wait for payment until the project was completed a few weeks ago.
“Until the lights were lit, we didn’t know if everything worked,” she said.
Krugel also forwarded the Valley Indy an e‑mail she said she sent to Cassetti Sept. 4 asking for an invoice from his company for the work.
Further, she said Cassetti agreed to a $2,380 reduction to the bill because the city had to hire another company to repair a traffic signal detector one of Cassetti’s employees had accidentally cut on Bridge Street.
