狐狸视频 Board of Aldermen President Lewis Reed paid nearly $900 in delinquent taxes this week to avoid being kicked off the March primary ballot, where he is seeking re-election.
The rush to pay the bills came just hours after an employee of one of Reed鈥檚 opponents, Jamilah Nasheed, filed a formal complaint with the 狐狸视频 Board of Election Commissioners, alleging that Reed should be disqualified because he lied about having outstanding taxes when he filed for re-election in November.
The author of the complaint, Jefonte Nelson, noted that Reed was delinquent in personal property taxes on a 2006 Dodge Durango and that, despite owning a 2005 motorcycle, Reed never told the city he owned it so that it too could be taxed. Nelson cited a city ordinance supporting his complaint, hand-delivered Wednesday afternoon to the Election Board offices downtown.
鈥淭he Board of Elections has the authority to institute the ordinance鈥檚 process for removing Reed from the ballot for any delinquent taxes at any time on or before Election Day,鈥 Nelson said in his letter.
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The Post-Dispatch contacted Reed鈥檚 chief of staff, Tom Shepard, on Wednesday afternoon to ask about the delinquent taxes.
鈥淗e doesn鈥檛 have any personal property taxes due. He doesn鈥檛 have an outstanding property tax bill,鈥 Shepard said.
On Thursday, after Shepard was contacted a second time by a reporter, he said that the delinquent tax bills on both vehicles had been paid and that Reed had officially declared the motorcycle as personal property.
When asked when the delinquent bills were resolved, Shepard said 鈥渧ery recently.鈥 City records show the tax bill on the Durango 鈥 $795.58 鈥 was paid online 9:15 p.m. Wednesday, four hours after the Post-Dispatch notified him of the complaint from Nasheed鈥檚 campaign. The $88.47 bill on the Honda motorcycle was paid Thursday morning.
Under city ordinance, once a complaint has been turned into the Election Board and the board determines taxes are owed, a candidate has seven days to pay the delinquent bill. Otherwise, 鈥渢he candidate shall be disqualified from participating in the current election and barred from refiling for an entire election cycle.鈥
Gary Stoff, Republican director of the Election Board, said Thursday that Reed is in good standing and will remain a candidate on the March 5 ballot.
鈥淲e received from President Reed copies of the paid receipts for both the motorcycle and the Durango,鈥 Stoff said. 鈥淗e responded in a timely manner so everything about the ballot stays the same.鈥
Reed, who is seeking a fourth term, said the delinquent tax complaint was 鈥渏ust ridiculous,鈥 an effort by his opponent to 鈥渢rump up鈥 negative news.
鈥淭his really isn鈥檛 a story,鈥 said Reed, who has also twice run unsuccessfully for mayor.
Reed filed for re-election on Nov. 26, and signed an affidavit declaring under penalties of perjury that he was not delinquent in the payment of 鈥渁ny personal property taxes, real property taxes on any real property located within the City of 狐狸视频.鈥
Technically, the taxes on the Durango were not delinquent when Reed filed. Taxes for 2018 were due by Dec. 31, about a month after he filed for re-election. But as of Wednesday, the taxes were more than five weeks late. Reed said that he donated the SUV to a veterans group, and it was auctioned off by that group for charity. Since he no longer owned it, there was some confusion about who should pay the taxes, Shepard said.
The city had sued Reed the previous two years for delinquent taxes on the Durango. Those back taxes are paid in full. It鈥檚 the same Durango that was twice stolen.
In July 2012, the SUV, including about $30,000 in campaign checks in the glove compartment, was taken from outside his house on Russell Boulevard, in Compton Heights, and recovered a short time later. In November 2014, the vehicle was stolen a second time, and again recovered.
As for the motorcycle, Reed said that when he bought it in 2017, he licensed it for two years and forgot to declare it as personal property last year on a form mailed out by the assessor鈥檚 office annually asking residents to declare all vehicles they own.
鈥淚 just missed it,鈥 Reed said.
Last month, the Post-Dispatch revealed that Reed had not yet paid a fine for failing to report campaign contributions, despite a statement from the campaign telling the newspaper that it had been paid in December.
Nasheed鈥檚 campaign manager, Lindsay Pattan, said in a statement that Reed should know how to properly file taxes after two decades as a city elected official.
鈥淎fter 20 years of Lewis Reed鈥檚 irresponsible behavior, the city is ready for new leadership,鈥 Patton said.
In addition to Reed and Nasheed, who is a state senator, 狐狸视频 Alderman Megan Ellyia Green and former alderman Jimmie Matthews are running for board president.