Nutter to tax deadbeats: "We're going to chase their little a--es down"
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Nutter to tax deadbeats: "We're going to chase their little a--es down"
Sean Collins Walsh
High-tech databases, collection agencies, call centers, new legislation and some saucy tough talk.
That's Mayor Nutter's plan for cracking down on tax deadbeats in Philadelphia, which lets more property taxes go uncollected than any major U.S. city.
"Now there are some other trifling raggedy people around here who can actually pay [their taxes] who don't pay," Nutter said Monday at a press conference. "We're going to chase their little asses down as hard as possible."
The mayor announced that his administration is investing $40 million, hiring 55 new employees and developing new analytics systems to get on top of the half-billion dollars owed to the city by delinquent property owners, many of whom haven't paid taxes in years.
He's also continuing the city's push for legislation in Harrisburg that will help him crack down on deadbeats.
The administration hopes its new strategy will result in $260 million in new revenue by 2018.
Actions speak louder than words and this is tiring. And childish that he keeps cursing to make a point. He had 4 years to collect overdue property taxes $400-500 milllion and the bail $$$$$. ITs silly. We all know nothing will happen and the rhetoric is tiresome.— uandwhosearmy- This sounds serious...— Cuddles
- Nutter:you must be a tough guy.— aguckin
- Hey Mayor Nutter - there's a property on the 100 block of east Mentor Street where the City says the owner owes $10,000. Look at the date. That owner moved his family out of the city 40 years ago and never looked back. They saw the neighborhood changing. Now look at Google map pictures of the same block. One of the two houses on either side of that $10,000 deadbeat's property is using that lot to park their cars. If you would hire actual L&I folks to work, instead of more cronies, you could investigate properties like this by KNOCKING on doors. If the family on the deed hasn't been in contact for over 40 years, and L&I CAN'T figure it out - but still files liens .... well then WHO is STUPID? You are of course... the dumbest Mayor the City ever had.— bad joe s
- What a wanna-be tough guy. He kills me with his instant Tough Tony comments. What a joke! Can't wait until his term is up. Of course he's padding his pockets with these soon to be school closures. Lame!— OwlRB9
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David Gambacorta spent a small eternity writing about cops, drug dealers and serial killers. Now he’s writing about power and politics – which sometimes reminds him of the old crime beat. He joined the Daily News in 2005. And yes, he knows you’re not quite sure how to pronounce his last name. E-mail tips to gambacd@phillynews.com
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Jan Ransom, a native New Yorker, joined the Daily News in 2010 after graduating from Howard University. She has since written about the difficulty of filing police complaints, tax deadbeats and life after violent home invasions. She joined the Daily News City Hall Bureau in 2011 and has plunged headfirst into reporting on administration budget battles and City Council shenanigans. E-mail tips to ransomj@phillynews.com
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Sean Collins Walsh is from Bucks County and went to Northwestern University. He joined the Daily News copy desk in 2012 and now covers the Nutter administration. Before that, he interned at papers including The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News and The Seattle Times. E-mail tips to walshSE@phillynews.com
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