Milton mired in tax woes on 3 fronts

T. Milton Street's tax problems have hit the trifecta - with the city, the state of New Jersey and the feds coming after him.

The mayor's big brother ranks 15th out of the top 100 tax scofflaws on a list updated this month by the New Jersey Division of Taxation. The list refers to a July 19 New Jersey Tax Court judgment against Street for $345,000.

"For who? For Jersey?" Street asked this week when a reporter told him about the list. "How could I owe money for Jersey? I've never worked over there. What are they talking about? I don't know how that could be."

Street listed an address in Moorestown, N.J., on a federal bankruptcy filing in 2005.

The tax scofflaw list also puts his address in Moorestown.

"I've never had an address over there," Street said. "That's a secondary address."

Street said he received no notice from New Jersey about the tax case at the Moorestown address or at his address in the Frankford section of Philadelphia.

Street, a former state senator, used that city address this year to attempt an unsuccessful return to elected office in a run for mayor that evolved into a run for an at-large seat on City Council. Street came in 17th out of 19 candidates in the Democratic primary in May.

Street's New Jersey tax problem may be related to a federal criminal case filed against him last year. That case already prompted his brother's administration to sue him in Philadelphia's Court of Common Pleas.

The feds accuse Street of failing to report $2 million in income from 2002, 2003 and 2004 for contracts he held at Philadelphia International Airport.

Street's federal trial is scheduled for Feb. 6, one month after his brother leaves office.

The city earlier this year said that Street owes $392,573 in back business taxes, based on the income listed in the federal indictment.

The city Law Department sued Street in August. That trial is scheduled for March.

The New Jersey Division of Taxation this week could not say if Street's outstanding tax bill was related to the federal case.

Street said that all of his tax problems - city, state and federal - will be settled in court. He has no plans to deal with the city or state issues until after the federal case comes to court.

"It doesn't make sense for me to respond to any of this until the federal case is over," Street said. "Because if the federal figures are wrong, then all these other figures are wrong, too." *