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Owner of former Delphi buildings owes $190,623 in property taxes
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
Though he paid only $80,000 in early 2011 for the former Delphi Packard complex on Dana and Griswold streets Northeast, Sergio DiPaolo now owes $190,623 in property taxes on it.
DiPaolo, of Girard, has carried out demolition inside the largest part of the complex, at the northeast corner of Dana Street and Paige Avenue, and he has marketed the former Delphi World Headquarters building on the south side of Dana Street as a possible office building for the city of Warren.
Warren passed on the DiPaolo’s proposal, instead buying the Gibson Building on East Market Street to house several city departments.
DiPaolo, who received a second stop-work order this week from the Warren Engineering, Planning and Building Department for failing to renew his contractor’s registration and failing to renew his demolition permit, said he hasn’t done any demolition at the site for eight months.
Regarding the taxes, DiPaolo said the amount he owes will be adjusted downward by the Trumbull County Auditor’s Office after the county completes a new inspection of the facilities to establish a more accurate valuation.
The property where most of the demolition took place, at 408 Dana St., has an appraised value of $1.3 million, according to the Trumbull County Treasurer’s Office.
DiPaolo said that value should be much lower now because of the demolition and because there are no tenants. “When there’s no occupancy, the property taxes should be greatly reduced,” DiPaolo said.
Records from the county treasurer’s office show that DiPaolo has not paid any of the taxes since he took ownership.
Sam Lamancusa, treasurer, said his office did not file foreclosure on the properties, despite the large amount owed because he knew that DiPaolo was challenging the valuation.
Bill Nicholas, chief appraiser for county Auditor Adrian Biviano, said DiPaolo came to his office this week to challenge the valuation. DiPaolo was referred to Integrity Appraisal of Niles because that is who handles the first part of the appeal process.
Integrity also had gone out to view the properties about the time DiPaolo acquired them, Nicholas said, and Integrity officials apparently had spoken with DiPaolo at that time about decreasing the property values.
It’s likely that the valuation will be reduced as a result of the demolitions, Nicholas added.
Meanwhile, the Warren Engineering, Planning and Building Department also sent a notice this week to Maximus III Properties LLC, which is a corporation registered in Las Vegas that took ownership of the Delphi properties Oct. 22, 2013.
Maximus, which has an Isabella Court address in Girard that is the same as DiPaolo’s residential address, was advised that the transfer of the properties was done in violation of Warren ordinances that prohibit transfer of properties that are under a compliance order.
Such a transfer can take place after the new owner acknowledges the requirements of the order and agrees to comply with the order, according to the city.
The order involved is the demolition order the city issued to Delphi Automotive Systems of Troy, Mich., the previous owner of the buildings, on Dec. 29, 2010. The demolition order transferred to DiPaolo when he bought the properties.
The city ordered the demolition in 2010 because the buildings had become the target of scrap-metal thieves and vandals, leading to the potential for fires, the city said.
The demolition order still is in effect, said Chris Tanneyhill, Warren building official. The dangers now are that some walls are no longer supported by a roof, posing a danger of falling; the existence of underground tunnels; and three recent fires.
The city is evaluating what steps to take to enforce the demolition order, Tanneyhill said.