For 13 years, Democratic ward leader George Brooks' wages have been paid by Philadelphia taxpayers. He's now making $64,539 a year in a senior patronage position at the Register of Wills Office.
And yet, according to city records, Brooks has failed to pay his property taxes for more than two decades, racking up a $15,000 debt to the city.
"I'm working on that. I'm making arrangements," Brooks said in a 20-second phone call that he quickly cut short.
An Inquirer analysis of Philadelphia tax and personnel records found about 2,000 city workers and employee spouses who were past due on their real estate bills, including about 1,000 who are more than two years behind.
Together, city employees and their spouses owed about $5 million in unpaid property taxes.
That is a tiny fraction of the total debt Philadelphia home and business owners owe the city in property taxes. More than 100,000 properties - ranging from commercial towers to tiny trinities - are considered technically delinquent. The collective debt stands at $425 million, which does not include as-yet-unpaid 2009 bills.
Critics such as City Controller Alan Butkovitz blame the unpaid bills on "a culture of unaggressive collection" that he says is epitomized by the city's failure to reliably collect what it is owed even from its own employees.
"The city has a big heart in dealing with its debtors, but the problem with being generous to a few is that you're being unfair to the many who do pay their bills, and who depend on city services being fully funded," Butkovitz said.
Nutter administration spokesman Doug Oliver said the city was trying to change that culture, largely by increasing the number of tax-delinquent houses offered at sheriff's auctions from a historic norm of about 25 a month to 125, with the goal of reaching 200 a month.
Even at that increased rate, though, it would take 41 years for the city to sell all the houses and businesses on its delinquency rolls, and that assumes all other property owners in the city stay current on their taxes.
"This is about striking the right balance between aggressively pursuing the revenue the city needs and also not wanting to eviscerate large swaths of communities through mass foreclosures," Oliver said. "But we concede that the right balance has not been met, and we want the message to be clear that all property owners have an obligation to pay your property taxes."
Philadelphia's need to collect on its debts has rarely been greater.
On Friday, the city announced it was so short on cash that it would temporarily stop paying vendors. And this year's grim budget features a sales-tax hike and actuarial acrobatics designed to kick pension payments down the road. Even that plan is at risk, however, as it still needs the approval of skeptical state legislators.
"It is not lost on us that, at a time when we have very important proposals in front of legislators in Harrisburg that we desperately need approval on, we must do everything we can to collect these outstanding debts," Oliver said.
And yet, as of June 1:
About 100 city employees were a decade or more behind on their property-tax payments.
Seventeen city workers, including Brooks, had debts dating back more than 20 years. Two owed delinquent taxes that topped or rivaled their salaries, and about 50 more had past-due bills that amounted to 25 percent or more of their yearly pay.
Several dozen delinquent employees were working in the very city agencies - the Law and Revenue Departments and the Board of Revision of Taxes - that are responsible for setting property values and collecting property taxes.
At least 160 active employees were already behind on their property taxes when the city hired them.
One police recruit hired Nov. 17, 2008, had property-tax debt that totaled nearly $28,000. She was one of five officers hired that day with delinquent tax bills.
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