Follies, foibles, controversies and tempests often rock Deltona, and now there is a new one.
The latest episode involves a nearly $1 million bill from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service for penalties regarding erroneous paperwork on health insurance in tax filings from 2016 to 2019.
Vice Mayor Jody Lee Storozuk tried to raise the issue at a special meeting of the Deltona City Commission May 2, but Mayor Santiago Avila Jr. wielded his gavel to head off the revelations. The two talked over each other, resulting in the end of the meeting, but not the story. Storozuk then moved to the floor of the City Commission Chambers and spoke with The Beacon and WESH TV Channel 2 News.
What follows is a transcript of the conclusion of the special meeting, plus the impromptu press conference.
Upon learning of the city’s dealings with the IRS in advance of the special meeting, The Beacon submitted a request to the City of Deltona for public records on the supposed missed payments on health insurance. We were denied access to the information.
“The City of Deltona has hired an outside attorney to handle the below mentioned issue and is in the process of an appeal,” reads an email response from the City Clerk’s Office. “The information requested is exempt from public records law per F.S. 119.071(1)(d)1.”
The exemption is due to the City of Deltona contesting the bill.
You can watch the meeting below.
The following day, May 3, Mayor Avila talked exclusively with The Beacon regarding the controversy.
“The situation is in pending litigation. That’s number one. I do want to clear up some misinformation,” Avila said. “So, we do not owe the IRS a million dollars. That’s not a tax bill. I can tell you that the IRS wants to penalize us for some misfiled forms, and that’s where the fees are coming from. Now, we did hire an attorney to work on getting those fees removed, and the erroneously filed forms have been corrected.”
Avila promised to release all information about the matter after it is settled.
“Once we have all of the information, we will make sure the public knows,” he said.
You can listen to the comments below.
Mayor
“For clarification, Madame Secretary, Clerk, City Clerk, are we allowed to talk about anything other than what was [unintelligible]?”
Joyce Raftery
“Only what’s on the agenda.”
Mayor
“So it’s not an agenda item.”
Vice Mayor
“OK, it’s a special thing I’m trying to squash and be fair and open and transparent to our residents. There’s an IRS issue here —
Voice
“It’s not on the agenda.”
Vice Mayor
“Well, then, I’ll talk about it to anybody that wants to listen. There’s an almost a million-dollar —
Mayor raps gavel
Vice Mayor
“IRS issue in —“
Mayor raps gavel louder
Mayor
“Point of order, Vice Mayor — “
Vice Mayor
“That has not been taken care of —“
Mayor raps gavel
“Vice Mayor Jody Lee, you’re out of order. It’s not on the agenda. At Monday’s commission meeting, you’re more than welcome to talk about it. This is a special commission meeting. We want to make sure we stay with the agenda item. So, if there are no other comments, the meeting is adjourned.”
Mayor raps gavel to conclude the meeting, and commissioners depart from the dais.
After meeting
Unknown Voice
“You’re in litigation. Remember that, Mr. Vice Mayor.”
Vice Mayor talking with media
“There’s an IRS bill. We’ve gotten letters for the last couple of years in this city. They have basically not told to the elected officials, and that’s a problem for all the people in this city. It has nothing to do with the current commission or mayor or ourselves. It’s something that’s been going on for years, and nobody’s ever came forward to tell us. That’s why people don’t like local government.
Gail Paschall Brown, WESH Channel 2 News
“How did this happen?”
Vice Mayor
“I don’t know. The last finance director that just resigned from this city, left with a paycheck knowing this was going on, and just walked away and resigned, knowing this was [unintelligible].”
Channel 2
“But how could a city like Deltona acquire a million-dollar tax bill if it exists? How — how — were taxes not paid on certain things?”
Vice Mayor
“It was something concerning a 1095C, which has got to do with insurance, which I think it goes back to Obamacare insurance. Forms weren’t filed right. They got notified and notified, and then they said, ‘We’ll just put it in the drawer, and we’ll forget about it, and maybe it will go away.’ But if you know about the IRS, it doesn’t go away. They just hid it and never told us. And then when I was told about it, I confronted somebody in finance and asked, ‘Well, how long have you know?’ She tells me, ‘I’ve been working on it for two years.’ Well, now it’s still been going on for two years, and you don’t tell none of the elected officials that are in charge of our city? They just tried to hide it?”
Channel 2
“Who tried to hide it?”
Vice Mayor
“People up in the golden offices. There’s different people in this city that don’t like the status quo being broken, and that’s the problem. That’s why I ran for election and got elected. I’m tired of the status quo. This building is here for the residents. The residents are not here for this building.”
Channel 2
“So is this a problem from the city manager’s office, the mayor or whom?”
Vice Mayor
It has nothing to do with the mayor or elected officials. Zero. This has only something to do with the manager’s office and other department heads in this city. Not all department heads, but the Finance Department directly, because this was put in a file and just shuffled away, thinking it will go away, like some magic trick. It doesn’t. It’s still there. I asked for the file. I’ve been told I can’t even look at the public records. You know — being the vice mayor of the city I can’t look at public records. That’s insane. I should have the right to look at public records. Let the citizens in this city know exactly what is going on.”
Channel 2
“And who denied you the access to the file? Whom did you ask, and who denied the access?”
Vice Mayor
“Right now, as it stands, the city attorney has denied on the behest of the city manager. But as I understand, the city manager a few months ago already hired an outside legal counsel to try and take care of this without even informing our city manager — or our city attorney.”
Channel 2
“I just asked the city attorney, and she said she didn’t know.”
Vice Mayor
“She was never briefed on it this whole time for the last couple of years it’s been going on. They even kept it from our own city attorney.”
Channel 2
“Now what can happen to the City of Deltona? Because with us, if we don’t pay the IRS, they can seize our assets. They can seize our bank accounts. What about the City of Deltona?”
Vice Mayor
“Well, from what I understand, the City of Deltona is already on the hook right now and has received a letter saying if you don’t pay, we’re going to take over your bank account. That’s how far it’s already gotten, and it’s been shuffled under the rug this long, and it’s going to be on the backs of the taxpayers, and it’s unfair. Somebody needs to be held accountable. I don’t care if it’s from the manager’s office, the finance office — somebody needs — it’s not up to the citizens to keep paying for their mistakes.”
Channel 2
“And how long has this been going on?”
Vice Mayor
“Supposedly for the past five or six years.”
The Beacon
“Pay how much?”
Vice Mayor
“Right now it’s close to a million dollars. It’s over $900,000.”
The Beacon
“Is that compounded over a period of time?”
Vice Mayor
“That’s what the bill is now. I’m trying to get public records. Being the vice mayor, I should be able to look at these documents, and I’ve been blocked from looking at these documents.”
Other media
“Is this the same city manager that you just voted yes to or —“
Vice Mayor
“No. The new city manager is the one coming in — this is something he has to deal with as soon as he gets in office. This is stuff that’s been going on with the whole good-old-boy system in our city for years. It needs to stop. It needs to come to an end. Guess what? I’m just the one that’s going to bring it to light and stop, because us citizens need to stop being put on the hook all their screw-ups.”
Channel 2
“So there’s no one person to blame? I’m just trying to figure out who got you the information — “
Vice Mayor
“The only person that would be to blame was whoever was in charge of the Finance Department and the city manager. They are to blame, because we should have been notified. If a manager knew about it two months ago, and he hired an outside attorney, you should have told about it two months ago. When I talked to the assistant finance director yesterday, she said she’s been working on it for two years. Well, you should have told us two years ago.”
Channel 2
“So what happens next? You couldn’t talk about it tonight, so when are you going to bring it up? Is it going to be an agenda item?”
Vice Mayor
“I will bring it back up at Monday night’s meeting. I’m sure with this stink, it will be on the agenda, and if it’s not on the agenda, I’ll bring it up again, anyway. The citizenry should not be on the hook for this problem.”
The Beacon
“When did this first come to light?”
Channel 2
“Yeah — can you — “
Vice Mayor
“Two days ago. This first came to light two days ago. This ain’t something we all knew about. We just got briefed about it — I believe — yesterday morning. But I’ve heard it from citizens Tuesday night. So somebody already leaked it out to people. It’s insane. This is something we should have been aware of. We are the ones. The city manager works for us. If things are being hidden from us, we need to get to the bottom of it, and somebody needs to be held accountable.
The Beacon
“Can you say who briefed you?”
Channel 2
“Can you say who briefed you? Can you say who told you?”
Vice Mayor
“No. I’m not going to post his name.”
Listen to Deltona Mayor Santiago Avila’s response below.
