Why Should Delaware Care?
Wilmington is looking to recover more than $300,000 on two properties owned by the Congo Legacy Center. If the business doesn’t show proof of payment in 20 days, the properties may go to sheriff sale. Its future will determine whether hundreds of thousands in public opioid relief funding will be wasted or put to use.
The city of Wilmington filed two foreclosure warnings Thursday against the Congo Legacy Center in an attempt to recover years of delinquencies on the properties it owns. It comes nearly a week after Spotlight Delaware reported the city had set its sights on a possible sheriff’s sale.
Now, with two filings in New Castle County Superior Court, foreclosure on the properties could soon be a reality. According to the filings, the Congo Legacy Center has 20 days to show proof it paid its debt with the city before it becomes a judgment against the organization.
While foreclosure on these properties would not only be high-profile, as they’re owned by a prominent local businessman, Ernest “Sammy” Congo Sr., it raises questions about the future of nearly half a million dollars in opioid abatement funds spent on renovations.
The prospect of potentially losing this property to sheriff’s sale is extremely troubling.
Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long’s office
The properties in question are the former Christ Our King Church, as well as the former Delaware College Preparatory Academy, which shut down in 2015. The filings from the city aim to recover $327,674 in property taxes, utilities and vacancy fees.
It’s not alone in seeking back taxes though. The center also owes New Castle County more than $138,000 on the school building and more than $249,000 on the church across the street, according to property records.
Congo’s attorney, Bill Rhodunda Jr., said in an email that the center is challenging the city and will soon have an “exciting announcement.” He balked at the city’s decision to pursue the sheriff’s sale, as the property could soon be used as a community resource.
“It is disappointing that the City is taking aggressive action on a property that did not pay property taxes for 100 years, and will not pay property taxes in the future when the tax-exempt status is approved,” Rhodunda wrote. “The action is particularly disheartening when one considers that the Congos are creating a facility for nonprofit organizations to serve the community.”
What will happen to the opioid funds?
A sheriff’s sale on the properties has one added wrinkle, the Congo Legacy Center used $475,000 from the state’s opioid relief fund to renovate the school building, and plans to turn it into an addiction resources center.
At the time of Spotlight Delaware’s first report, Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long’s office, which oversees the fund, was unaware of the impending legal action by the city. Now however, the office said it paused a second $80,000 grant the organization was awarded in July out of an “abundance of caution.”
The lieutenant governor’s office also said it’s hopeful for a resolution, but will be prepared to take any necessary actions in line with recommendations from the Delaware State Auditor’s Office.
“The prospect of potentially losing this property to sheriff sale is extremely troubling,” the office wrote. “We urge the grantee and the city of Wilmington to come to a resolution.”
The embattled $250 million fund has been under the microscope since Attorney General Kathy Jennings flagged allegations of fraud against a Kent County nonprofit and called for better guardrails for the windfall.
The grant to the Congo Legacy Center was the third largest of any grant given out by the commission, and the second largest to a non-state agency.
According to its application, obtained by Spotlight Delaware in a FOIA request, the Congo-Tarir Project, as it is known, aimed to create a community-based program on the east side of Wilmington to provide activities that promote self-care, education, health, and wellness.
The public would “receive primary and secondary prevention and education regarding the use of opioids and the destruction these substances cause on the human body and their environment. They would also receive information regarding treatment so they understand that there should be no stigma associated with addiction and the possibility of entering and remaining in recovery.”
According to the metrics of success in the grant application, the center’s renovations would be completed by Jan. 1, 2024, and services would have begun March 1 – neither target date was met.
Rhodunda argues that the properties were tax-exempt because they had always been tax-exempt under the prior ownership of the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington. An affiliated company, the Congo Legacy Center, acquired the properties and held a nonprofit status until 2022. The company lost that status two years ago after failing to file tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service, but is now trying to regain it.
Rhodunda has said his client will fight the city’s decision “to the bitter end,” noting that the state has invested $475,000 into the building through the opioid settlement fund. Asked how he will do that, Rhodunda indicated that he may challenge the sheriff’s sale by petitioning the city council, which is led by Congo’s son, Trippi Congo, for forgiveness of the past-due taxes.
Even if the Legacy Center was successful in reinstating its tax-exempt status, the taxes would still be due for any years that the IRS did not recognize it as tax-exempt, city officials said.
“The city should actually be joining hands with this project to make it really an outstanding amenity for the community,” Rhodunda told Spotlight Delaware last week.
Get Involved
The POSDC Budget and Reporting Committee meets Thursday, Oct. 10, at 2 p.m. in person or on Zoom.
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Reach Nick at nstonesifer@spotlightdelaware.org.
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