Thread: State contacts Chelsea about lawn workers

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articl ... n_workers/

THIS STORY HAS BEEN FORMATTED FOR EASY PRINTING


State contacts Chelsea about lawn workers
By Jonathan Saltzman and Maria Cramer, Globe Staff | December 7, 2006

The state Department of Revenue has contacted the city of Chelsea to inquire about a landscaping company following a Globe story reporting that the company used illegal immigrant workers.

City Manager Jay Ash said that an auditor from the Revenue Department called and asked about Community Lawn Service with a Heart, a tiny Chelsea company that maintains the grounds of Governor Mitt Romney's house in Belmont, as well as Chelsea parks.

On Friday, the Globe reported that illegal immigrants from Guatemala make up a significant number of employees at the company, which has tended Romney's 2 1/2-acre property on Marsh Street for a decade. Reporters interviewed four current and former employees of the company, and all but one said they were in the United States illegally. The workers said they were paid in cash at $9 to $10 an hour.

Stephen M. Politi, a Boston tax lawyer and former chief counsel to the Department of Revenue, said it is not surprising that the agency inquired about the lawn service, given the Globe story.

The department would probably "want to determine whether the company has complied with all of its state tax return filing and tax payment requirements," said Politi, a part-time professor at Bentley College who had no knowledge of the agency's inquiry.

Ricardo Saenz, owner of the lawn service, declined to comment. Tim Connolly, a spokesman for the department, said that the agency, which ensures compliance with state tax laws, would not comment on whether it is investigating the company.

"We just don't get involved in discussing anything involving a taxpayer and how we are interacting with the taxpayer," Connolly said. "The Department of Revenue looks into tax matters involving businesses and individuals every day."

Ash said the Revenue Department's auditor, Joseph Lupica, did not tell city officials whether an investigation is being pursued. The Revenue Department initially contacted the city by e-mail Friday, the day the Globe story appeared.

He said Lupica told a city official that he wanted to know how much Chelsea paid the lawn service in fiscal 2005 for maintaining public parks and school grounds. The Revenue Department's computerized records indicated that Community Lawn Service reported receiving $972,300 from the city, according to Ash. In fact, he said, Chelsea only paid the lawn service $71,730 that year.

"The state was questioning an amount paid in '05 which was significantly more than what we had recorded," said Ash.

Ash said it was the only time in his six years as city manager that the Revenue Department had inquired about a vendor under contract with the city. But he also said it was possible that the discrepancy stemmed from a data-entry error.

Over the past three fiscal years, Chelsea has paid Community Lawn Service $174,190 to maintain parks and a half-dozen school properties, Ash said.

The lawn service also has a contract that expires in March with the Massachusetts Port Authority to maintain vacant lots in East Boston.

A spokesman for the authority said Tuesday that he knew of no inquiries of his agency by the Revenue Department.

Romney has said through a spokesman that he hired a legitimate lawn service company and had no reason to think it employed undocumented workers. The company owner, Saenz, is a legal immigrant from Colombia.

Romney has grown more vocal in his opposition to illegal immigration as he has weighed a White House bid in 2008.

Last Thursday, his spokesman said the governor has reached an agreement with federal authorities that will allow the Massachusetts State Police to arrest undocumented immigrants.



© Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company

Romney has grown more vocal in his opposition to illegal immigration as he has weighed a White House bid in 2008.

Don't be fooled by this! Words out Romney, your an OBL.

Dixie

Well said Dixie. Romney is not for enforcement. He's made that abundently clear.

Well said Dixie. Romney is not for enforcement

I'm with you guys. He is full of it.