City workers owing taxes may face garnishment

Mayor Nutter yesterday said the city would reluctantly withhold up to 20 percent of the wages of city workers who are behind on their property taxes unless they pay up or enter into payment agreements.

"We have been working on this initiative since December of 2008. We are very serious about this initiative," Nutter said in a phone interview last night. "Everyone, private citizens and public employees both, must pay their taxes."

But Nutter was also careful not to bash city workers who are behind in their payments, and on several occasions he observed that City Hall cannot ruthlessly collect what is owed, regardless of the consequences.

"Government should not be some heartless, soulless place that lacks any kind of understanding," Nutter said, referring to the case of a city employee with a history of grave medical problems who is 25 years and $96,868 behind on his taxes. "I think whether a person is a regular citizen or a public employee, life at times can be rather harsh for some people."

The mayor said the city was also considering adopting a policy that would compel tax-delinquent applicants for city jobs to enter into payment plans as a condition of employment.

More than 30 city workers hired since Nutter took office had delinquent tax bills when they were given the jobs, including one police recruit whose property tax was last paid up in 1988.

When asked if the city should consider simply not hiring any Philadelphian who owes back taxes, Nutter said that would be a mistake.

"It's not a crime. Why would you rule them out? I don't know that that's a legitimate basis not to hire someone," said Nutter, surmising that the city could also face legal obstacles to a hiring policy that completely excludes applicants who owe back taxes.

The mayor was responding to a report in Sunday's Inquirer, which found about 2,000 employees and employee spouses who were past due on their property taxes as of June 1.

About 100 city workers were a decade or more behind on their payments. Collectively, the employees and employee spouses owed about $5 million.

Nutter said his administration had been working on a plan to collect past-due taxes from its employees for more than seven months. Part of that, he said, was a May 29 letter sent to city employees shortly after The Inquirer questioned administration officials about employee tax delinquencies.

The letter warned past-due workers to pay up by the end of June.

Since then, the city has collected about $1 million in past-due property taxes, interest, and penalties from its workers. More than 100 past-due employees paid their debts in full, while an additional 425 entered into payment plans.

In the weeks to come, Nutter said, employees who have yet to pay their bills will receive personal letters detailing their balances and giving them an as-yet-unspecified length of time to enter into a monthly payment plan.

Only after that deadline passes might tax-delinquent employees have any part of their wages withheld, and in those cases, the mayor said, it was important to have guidelines in place regulating how much money can reasonably be withheld, particularly in light of the "incredibly challenging economic times."

Administration officials are slated to meet with City Controller Alan Butkovitz on Friday to discuss their plan. By law, the controller must approve any withholding of wages. Butkovitz said yesterday he was prepared to deduct past-due taxes from paychecks.

Nutter dismissed the possibility of any on-the-job discipline for city workers who fail to pay their taxes, saying to do so would likely run afoul of labor laws and civil-service regulations.

"People generally get disciplined on the job for issues directly related to their performance in the job," Nutter said.

Nor did Nutter strongly object to City Council's practice of using its influence to help individual taxpayers whose homes are at risk of being foreclosed upon due to delinquent taxes.

On at least two occasions since Nutter took office, Councilwoman Jannie L. Blackwell intervened on behalf of her tax-delinquent employee Martin Cabry, who owes $96,000. Cabry said last week that health problems led him into the property-tax debt. He is afflicted with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a serious condition that forced him to get a double lung transplant three years ago. Cabry's adult daughter, whom he cares for, has spina bifida.

When asked if he thought such Council interventions in individual tax cases were an acceptable practice, Nutter replied: "Council members and other elected officials at all levels of government have a natural instinct to help."

Still, Nutter said, the city would need to eventually get the money it is owed by Cabry.

"We want every dime that is owed to us. I cannot overemphasize that point," Nutter said.