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The owner of a Connecticut tree service business pleaded guilty to tax evasion for concealing income and failing to file taxes for multiple years, federal officials said.

Bill G. Makros, 57, of Danbury, waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty Monday before U.S. District Judge Vernon D. Oliver in Hartford, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office. He faces a maximum of five years in federal prison.

Court records show Makros owned a tree service business known as Budget Tree and Stump Removal Service, LLC. From 2016 through 2020, Makros reportedly hid his income by receiving payments in the form of checks made payable to cash or to him personally and by depositing the checks into bank accounts other than his business account, according to court records.

Makros also reportedly cashed check payments and did not deposit the money into any business or personal accounts, court records show.

Makros reportedly failed to file his federal individual tax returns for the 2016 through 2020 tax years and failed to pay $140,462 in taxes on approximately $517,000 in net profits, according to court records.

In addition, Makros applied for pandemic relief loans during the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of that process, he submitted IRS Schedule C forms for his business that purported to be part of his tax returns for 2019 and 2020, even though he had not filed tax returns with the IRS for those years, federal officials said.

Makros is currently released on a personal recognizance bond pending sentencing. His sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 27, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office.

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CT tree service owner pleads guilty to concealing income, failing to file tax returns for 5 years - Hartford Courant

A large tree on Sarah Switzers Deerfield home was a testament to the severity of Tuesdays storm, which caused downed power lines and trees, widespread power outages and property damage.

Southern Vigo County was among areas especially hard hit.

The area where Switzer lives has many trees, but the family didnt anticipate the destruction of Tuesdays storm.

There is extensive damage to the roof which will have to be replaced, the entire attic has to be replaced and several rooms will need work, she said. The trees we thought would fall, didnt fall.

The repairs will take time.

On Friday, a tree removal company was onsite and indications were that power could be restored later in the day, she said.

The neighborhood had significant tree damage and trees on power lines.

Thankfully, no one was hurt, Switzer said. Some of her neighbors also had significant damage to their homes and vehicles, and Switzer expressed concern for all those recovering from the storms wrath.

I wanted my trees down, but not this way, she said.

On Friday, an armada of tree removal businesses, Duke Energy workers and contractors descended on the neighborhood and nearby southside neighborhoods.

By 5:30 p.m. Friday, the number of Duke Energy Vigo County customers without power had dropped to 41, with estimated time of restoration by 5 a.m. Saturday.

Some of those still without power received a message from the utility that the severity of damage in your area requires additional work before service can be restored.

In some cases, vegetation had to be cleared and tree removal had to take place before power could be restored.

As of Friday at 5:30 p.m., 77 Vigo County WIN Energy REMC customers remained without power from Tuesdays storm.

Crews will continue to work until all power is restored, according to a WIN news release. Please make appropriate provisions as some members will remain without power Friday night due to extensive damage.

Vigo County Commissioner Chris Switzer reported that all county roads were clear. Some areas might be a tight squeeze until we get some heavy equipment out next week to move some bigger trees further away from the roadway, he said.

He added, Seventy-two hours after the storm and nearly all customers are restored and roadways are safe for travel. We will strike that up as a significant win, he said. I hope people take advantage of the south garage for limb disposal next week.

Vigo County has announced a limb disposal site has been established at the highway garage at 10970 S. Sullivan Place. It will be open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday of next week.

It is free for Vigo County residents, but professional tree trimmers will need to dispose of debris in their usual manner.

Commissioner Mark Clinkenbeard said that highway crews are starting the long process of picking up debris in right of ways.

Local governments, utilities and citizens worked together great in the aftermath of the storm, Clinkenbeard said.

In the city of Terre Haute, employees have started transitioning from focusing on opening roads, streets and alleys to removing brush and limbs, said Mayor Brandon Sakbun.

We have multiple teams deployed throughout the city with chippers, mowers, dump trucks, and more. We have made major progress the last 72 hours but acknowledge this job is far from over, he said.

Sakbun added, We remain in contact with our utility partners to ensure downed lines are removed prior to our employees clearing any storm damage.

Jesse Walker, WTWO-TV 2 meteorologist, says that during Tuesdays storm, the peak measured wind gust in Monroe County was 78 miles per hour. I still say southern Vigo County had between 70-80 mile-per-hour (winds).

The storm produced straight line winds with some hail northwest of Terre Haute that did damage. There were no tornadoes in the system, Walker said.

Originally posted here:
Families tell their stories as storm cleanup continues - AOL

A Minnesota homeowner was left searching for answers after a neighbor's construction had a devastating effect on a tree on their property that had stood for over a century.

One Redditor explained their story and provided a photo of the 150-year-old oak tree that was damaged by their neighbor's carelessness in the r/treelaw subreddit recently.

The neighbor began construction and excavated for a "massive, side-by-side duplex they're building." While the user was fine with the trimming of a large branch on their tree, they noted that the neighbor "also excavated out approximately 1/3 of its root system."

The destruction of the tree's root system meant that the tree would require an eventual removal, as the user "had an arborist come out and he pointed out that some of the main roots had been severed and it was likely going to start a quick decline over the next year or so."

The user attempted to get the neighbor to remove the tree in full and compensate them with $500 for their loss, but that was ignored, so the user asked for advice on how to move forward.

"You need to consult with a lawyer, and also contact the city," one commenter suggested. " ... You also live in a treble damages state, which means he could be held liable for up to three times the value of the tree. Additionally, it is possible that the excavation was not permitted properly "

Join our newsletter Good news, green hacks, and the latest cool clean tech straight to your inbox every week!

Trees play a crucial role in maintaining the health of our planet and our communities. They help keep Earth cool by absorbing harmful carbon pollution and releasing oxygen, which is essential for all living beings.

Improper removal of trees can have significant negative impacts on both the environment and the trees themselves, and it can also carry legal ramifications. For example, a Vermont resident faced criminal charges this year for illegally cutting down nearly 300 trees that were protected as part of the Green Mountain National Forest. Also, a New Jersey homeowner who cut down 32 trees in a neighbor's yard faced a whopping fine of $1,000 per tree.

Commenters advised the OP that their $500 offer to their neighbor was far below what they have a right to seek for the loss of their tree.

"Take that $500 offer off the table yesterday," one commenter wrote.

"Yeah $500 for a 150-year tree isn't going to cut it," another commenter stated. "You can easily walk away with $15k in damage plus the cost of the tree removal, however that requires a lawyer. Good luck!"

Join our free newsletter for easy tips to save more, waste less, and help yourself while helping the planet.

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Homeowner frustrated after stubborn neighbor's construction destroys 150-year-old tree on their property: 'You need to ... - The Cool Down

People came to Jaycee Park Saturday morning, to tie yellow ribbons around dozens of Australian Pines.The ribbons are to celebrate veterans for the Fourth of July, and to bring awareness to the trees, which residents say the city wants to cut down for development.The yellow ribbon, meaning return to me. We think of our trees kind of like our veterans and our service members and our first responders in that they're deeply rooted in our community, just like the trees, explained Cape Coral resident Anne Berchtold.The city plans to remove trees in the park considered invasive. They also want to add boat docks, food trucks, revamp the parking lot and more.This park is very well used by everyone and we wanted to stay that way, said Cape Coral resident Kathleen Lopez.The last plans were shared on May 22 at the committee of the whole meeting.Weve reached out to the city for comment and any updates on the progress of Jaycee Park.We'll let you know when we hear back.I think the response is very good and people are going to look at the yellow ribbons and wonder what it was all about, said Berchtold.The plan is to take the ribbons down after the Fourth of July, so parks maintenance staff can keep the park clean.

People came to Jaycee Park Saturday morning, to tie yellow ribbons around dozens of Australian Pines.

The ribbons are to celebrate veterans for the Fourth of July, and to bring awareness to the trees, which residents say the city wants to cut down for development.

The yellow ribbon, meaning return to me. We think of our trees kind of like our veterans and our service members and our first responders in that they're deeply rooted in our community, just like the trees, explained Cape Coral resident Anne Berchtold.

The city plans to remove trees in the park considered invasive. They also want to add boat docks, food trucks, revamp the parking lot and more.

This park is very well used by everyone and we wanted to stay that way, said Cape Coral resident Kathleen Lopez.

The last plans were shared on May 22 at the committee of the whole meeting.

Weve reached out to the city for comment and any updates on the progress of Jaycee Park.

We'll let you know when we hear back.

I think the response is very good and people are going to look at the yellow ribbons and wonder what it was all about, said Berchtold.

The plan is to take the ribbons down after the Fourth of July, so parks maintenance staff can keep the park clean.

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Cape Coral community ties ribbons at Jaycee Park to honor veterans, raise awareness of tree removal plans - NBC2 News

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As the scorching Texas summer takes hold, Monster Tree Service of Northwest Houston is stepping up to safeguard the region's trees from drought stress and potential storm damage. As the scorching Texas summer takes hold, Monster Tree Service of Northwest Houston is stepping up to safeguard the region's trees from drought stress and potential storm damage. Recognizing this season's unique challenges, the company offers expert tree care services tailored to strengthen tree resilience and promote long-term health.

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Beat the Drought & Storms: Monster Tree Service of Northwest Houston Offers Expert Summer Tree Care - openPR

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Professional Tree Trimmers is a leading tree service company. In a recent update, the company shared insights on how tree trimming contributes to community safety. West Palm Beach, FL - In a website post, Professional Tree Trimmers shared insights on how tree trimming contributes to community safety.

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Professional Tree Trimmers Shares Insights on How Tree Trimming Contributes to Community Safety - openPR

Higher mortgage rates continue to have a counterintuitive impact on home building in the Twin Cities metro as construction of for-sale, single-family housing increased at a double-digit pace while apartment construction maintained its free-fall.

During June, cities issued homebuilders in the metro 542 permits to build the same number of single-family homes, a 15% increase in the past year, according to a monthly report from Housing First Minnesota, which tracks residential construction throughout most of the 13-county metro.

Apartment construction, however, plummeted. Builders and developers gained enough permits to build only 24 multifamily units, a fraction of last year's total at the same time and the monthly average.

"As homebuyers adapt to current interest rates, more and more buyers are drawn to new construction where many builders are offering incentives," said Art Pratt, a longtime Twin Cities builder and board chair of Housing First Minnesota, in a statement.

Higher mortgages rates are driving these divergent trends. They have kept sellers with much lower rates on the sidelines, constricting the number of houses put on the market and limiting options for buyers who are willing and able to buy at today's higher rates.

Mortgage rates, which are still near the historical average but are more than double the rate two years ago, have increased borrowing costs for developers and forced many developers to hit the pause button on many new apartment projects.

"Builders are adapting to the current housing market as the demand for homeownership has not wavered, even as rates and home prices have made it challenging for many," Pratt said.

In June last year, there were 548 total permits issued for a total of 566 units, according to data the Keystone Report collected. That's the least number of permitted units for any June in several years until this year.

So far this year, 3,841 total housing units gained permits, nearly 1,000 fewer than last year at this time and the fewest in several years. Only about 22% of those units were multifamily apartments and other rentals. During a typical year, about half of all total units are multifamily.

Higher borrowing costs are causing the downturn in rental construction. They come at a time when a near-record number of new apartments are completing, creating what's expected to be a temporary increase in the average vacancy rate in some parts of the metro. In much of the metro, the average vacancy rate is already below 5%, making it a landlord's market in those areas.

Through the past two years, builders have constructed nearly 20,000 new apartments, according to a second-quarter report from Marquette Advisors. Construction has tapered quickly: By the end of 2024, only 7,350 units should finish, with 3,785 following next year.

Already, the Twin Cities is quickly become a much more competitive rental market, according to a report RentCafe released Monday. The national rental search firm showed apartments in the metro become occupied within 53 days, on average, with eight renters competing for every unit.

"The complete drop off of multi-family construction is concerning," said James Vagle, CEO of Housing First Minnesota, in a statement. "Minnesota needs housing of all types."

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Single-family construction is on the rise in the Twin Cities, while apartment construction is in a free-fall. - Star Tribune

Portland, Oregon Deacon Development Group, in collaboration with Deacon Construction, LLC, proudly announces the completion of the Merx market-rate apartment building located in the vibrant Slabtown neighborhood of Northwest Portland. This modern seven-story building spans 57,412 square feet and offers 126 thoughtfully designed studios and one-bedroom apartments.

Each studio apartment at Merx features a full kitchen, a washer, and a dryer, catering to the needs of urban dwellers seeking convenience and comfort. With eight unique layouts, ranging from 297 to 433 square feet, residents can choose a space that best suits their lifestyle.

Merx boasts competitively priced units with high-quality finishes, complemented by thoughtful amenity spaces. The building includes an amenity room/courtyard and an expansive rooftop deck, providing residents with ample opportunities to socialize and unwind. Merxs five-story wood-framed structure sits atop a two-story concrete podium, offering both durability and aesthetic appeal.

The buildings ground floor features a residential lobby, street-facing retail spaces, off-street loading areas, a residential courtyard, and an amenity room. The rooftop deck offers stunning views of the surrounding cityscape, making it a perfect spot for relaxation and entertainment. Construction of Merx began in August 2022, and we are excited to invite the community to the official ribbon-cutting ceremony on July 10th, from 10:30 am 12 pm.

The successful completion of Merx is attributed to the collaborative efforts of the dedicated project team, including owner/developer Deacon Development, architect YBA Architects, civil engineer Humber Design Group, structural engineer KPFF, and general contractor Deacon Construction a sister company of the developer.

About Deacon Development GroupDeacon Development is a Portland-based real estate development firm. We specialize in the selection, acquisition, financing, development, and disposition of retail, medical, office, and multifamily projects in the Pacific Northwest.

About Deacon Construction, LLCDeacon Construction, LLC is a full-service general contractor dedicated to providing clients with a product built in an atmosphere of honesty, respect, and open communication. For more than 40 years, they have specialized in construction of hotels, restaurants, retail centers, mixed-use buildings, multifamily housing, and entertainment facilities, as well as healthcare and office buildings. Through their dedication to surpassing client expectations, ability to manage diverse and difficult projects, financial strength and competitive pricing, Deacon Construction has emerged an industry leader throughout the Western United States.

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Deacon Development Group Announces Grand Opening of 126-Unit Merx Apartment Building in Portlands Slabtown - The Registry Seattle

Three years after Suffolk Downs won city approvals, there was supposed to be a lot more going on by now on the nearly four dozen other buildings that will eventually rise at the 161-acre property. But housing construction at the site is on hold until developer HYM Investment Group can hash out a complicated financing deal that has been pushed out of balance by an out-of-whack economy.

The holdup is a reality plaguing housing developers across Greater Boston over the last two years. Demand in our housing-starved region is sky high. And developers such as HYMs Tom OBrien have all the hard-won permits they need. But for all the attention paid lately to fights over zoning and other local approvals recently, securing permits to build isnt even the hard part right now. Amid high interest rates and materials costs, raising enough money is the real problem.

The whole dynamic of housing finance has shifted, said OBrien. It has become so much harder to make these projects work.

Indeed, every major ingredient of an apartment building from wood to steel to electrical components costs more than it did before Covid. Overall materials costs have jumped 43 percent since the start of 2020. Interest rates for construction loans have more than tripled. The investors who typically fund housing development are demanding higher returns, too. Financing new housing in Massachusetts was a complex undertaking five years ago; now it seems impossible.

Theres no hard-and-fast tally of permitted units that are not under construction across dozens of Greater Boston communities. But officials in suburban towns talk about construction permits sitting on the shelf because developers cant close on financing. In Boston, for example, researchers at the citys planning and development agency last year estimated there were nearly 23,000 units stuck in the pipeline. (For comparison, from 2017 through 2021, a little more than 20,000 units were built in Boston, according to a 2022 report from the Mayors Office of Housing.)

One proxy measure of the backlog comes from the housing developed under the states 40B law, which allows developers to bypass local zoning in towns that have insufficient levels of affordable housing. Officials at the quasi-state agency MassHousing say they know of some 20,000 units on pause right now. Those mixed-income projects typically rely on revenues from market-rate apartments to finance the affordable units, making them particularly vulnerable to economic shifts.

The story is much the same all over the region. Through the first five months of the year, fewer than 5,000 units worth of building permits were issued across Greater Boston. Thats down a bit from the same time in 2023, which itself was the slowest year for new housing production in more than a decade.

In a region like Greater Boston, where homes and apartments are already in extremely short supply, that will have consequences for years to come, with supply continuing to fall even further behind demand.

We need that pressure of new construction to bring down rents, said Adam Guren, an economist at Boston University. So I would find it worrisome if theres going to be a lull in building. Its pretty simple: If theres a construction lag is hitting us in several years and demand remains strong for the Boston area, mechanically, rents have to go up.

OBrien, who spent years working on the permits for Suffolk Downs, blames two key factors: the rise of interest rates and construction costs.

The price of lumber and steel major ingredients in housing construction shot up during the pandemic thanks to international supply chain disruptions. Theyve since stabilized, but have not come back down to pre-pandemic levels.

Interest rates, too, shot up as the Federal Reserve moved to tackle inflation, which has made it more expensive for developers to secure construction loans. Interest rates on construction loans are roughly 5 percentage points higher than in 2022.

For an example, OBrien points to a residential tower HYM built as part of the redevelopment of the Government Center Garage. When HYM broke ground in 2017, it cost the company around $680,000 per unit to build. Today, he said, that figure would be more like $1 million.

Whats more, given what they can earn by simply stashing cash in a bank right now, the investors who normally finance housing development are demanding higher returns. So to draw that investment, developers have to make even more money off of their buildings. This can translate to higher rents, but rents have their limits too.

Imagine you had a building that was before returning 6 percent on an investment, said Guren. With a higher construction cost youre returning maybe 4 percent. That building used to make twice as much income as was necessary to build. Now its not enough.

That is ultimately what OBrien says is preventing more construction at Suffolk Downs. HYM is working on a deal to build a second apartment building on the Revere side of the site, but right now it would cost roughly $400,000 a unit. He figures he needs to get that down to $350,000 to secure a deal with investors. So HYM has been working to simplify the architecture of the building and cut back some amenities to make the costs balance.

The equity is literally like an on-off switch, OBrien said. Either you get to the six and a half percent return on cost, or you dont have a project.

But while its easy to flip the production switch to off, turning it back on takes a lot more time.

From conception to grand opening, it takes about five years for a developer to build an apartment building around here. Even permitted projects will need years before they actually house people. There are still projects underway that launched before interest rates spiked, but a lull is coming once those are finished.

If financing markets (hopefully) ease by mid-2025, we would expect new units to be available in 2030, with the intervening years providing little new production, development firm Cabot Cabot and Forbes put it in a recent white paper.

Andrew Chaban, chief executive of Princeton Properties, a local developer and apartment owner, explains it like this: Nearly every step of the financing process from buying the land, to securing a construction loan, to attracting equity has become more complicated and expensive, driving project costs up. When project costs go up, those expenses get passed on to renters.

Theres nowhere else for those costs to go, if we want the housing to get built, said Chaban.

Some experienced developers are still moving projects along in the suburbs, But even some major suburban developments, including a housing and life sciences complex at the Riverside MBTA stop in Newton that was first proposed in 2018, are stuck.

The nearly 600-unit Riverside project has been paused since late 2022, and the formula for moving it forward just doesnt work anymore, said Howard Cohen, board chair of Beacon Communities, one of the developers.

Part of the problem, said Cohen, is that the market for lab development, which was supposed to be the focus of the first phase of the Riverside project, has cratered.

In recent years, builders have had success bundling labs and housing in one project because the lab space could help subsidize the housing. Now both sides of the deal are hard to finance. Cohen said the developers are talking with investors, but may need to accelerate housing into the first phase, which will require more city permits.

The economic forces that have thrown off Riverside, he warned, could still take several years to correct.

Fundamentally, weve got an equation right now that doesnt work, said Cohen. Over the long run the equation will get straightened out. But we dont know how long thats going to take, and in the meantime we need to keep building.

Cohen and other developers see an urgent need to get things moving again, whether the economy stabilizes soon or not.

Some are backing an idea from MassHousing to create a momentum fund that could be used to plug financing gaps for mixed income housing so they can break ground. The proposal is included in the housing bond bill currently before the Legislature, where the House proposed $250 million and the Senate offered $50 million; the precise amount could be negotiated in the coming weeks.

We need to find a way to keep building, said MassHousing CEO Chrystal Kornegay. And if we dont start now, the day when we have the housing we need coming online moves further and further away.

Andrew Brinker can be reached at andrew.brinker@globe.com. Follow him @andrewnbrinker.

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Housing construction in greater Boston stymied by sky-high costs - The Boston Globe

The Census Bureaus report on construction spending said that the value of multifamily residential construction put in place in May was down 0.02 percent from the revised level of the month before. Spending on single-family residential construction was reported to fall 0.7 percent while spending on improvements was up 0.30 percent.

With this release, the Census Bureau revised the seasonally adjusted data back to January 2017. Therefore, the revisions to the prior months data in this report may be much larger than usual.

The value of total private residential construction put in place in May 2024 was reported to be $918.2 billion on a seasonally adjusted, annualized basis. This figure, which includes spending on both new construction and on improvements, was reported to be down $2.0 billion month-over-month. This is the first significant monthly decline since April 2023. With the Census Bureaus updates to their past data, Aprils figure was revised higher by $28.8 billion. Residential construction spending in May was reported to be up 6.5 percent year-over-year.

The value of new private construction of multifamily residential buildings put in place in May was reported to be $130.8 billion on a seasonally adjusted, annualized basis. This was down $21 million from the revised level for April. However, the April figure was revised lower by $1.15 billion, so the preliminary multifamily construction spending figure reported this month is $1.17 billion, or 0.9 percent, lower than the preliminary figure for April reported last month. The reported value of multifamily housing construction put in place in May 2024 was 4.6 percent lower than the level of May 2023.

The first chart shows the difference between the levels of multifamily construction put in place reported last month and the levels reported this month. It shows that the revisions to the data in this months report point to a lower, and declining, pace of multifamily construction completions than was presented in last months report.

For reference, the Census Bureaus New Residential Construction report said the number of unit completions in May in buildings with 5 or more units fell 7.2 percent from the level of the month before. Completions were 0.2 percent lower than their year-earlier level.

Governments were reported to have put $12.22 billion in residential construction in place in May on a seasonally adjusted annualized basis.

The value of new single-family residential construction put in place in May was $436.6 billion on a seasonally adjusted, annualized basis. This was down $3.02 billion from the revised (+$442 million) level for April and was up 1.38 percent from the level of May 2023.

The value of improvements to residential buildings put in place in May was reported to be $350.8 billion on a seasonally adjusted, annualized basis. This was up $1.04 billion from the revised (+$30.52 billion) level for April and was up $9.62 billion from the year-earlier level. The Census Bureau does not separate out improvements for single-family and multifamily residential buildings.

The following chart shows the value of residential construction put in place each month since January 2012. It also shows the trend line for single-family residential construction based on growth in construction volume during the period from January 2012 to June 2018.

The chart shows that the value of multifamily residential construction put in place reached its most recent high in June of last year and has been generally been trending lower since then.

While last months data indicated that the value of single-family construction put in place was continuing its slow climb, this months data shows this figure falling for the last two months.

The value of improvements put in place was revised sharply higher in the updates to past data in this months report. Whereas the earlier data had indicated that the value of improvements put in place had been falling, the updated data indicates that it has been rising since last November, with a 10 percent gain since then.

The report from the Census Bureau also includes information on spending on other types of construction projects. The full report can be found here.

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Multifamily construction spending trending lower in May - Yield PRO magazine