Davis to MPR on late tax payments: it's "something that has come in the mail"

MPR reports in Congressional candidate late paying taxes:

Rochester, Minn. — First District Republican candidate Brian Davis has paid his property taxes late every year for the last five years.

Davis's Rochester home was assessed $1,400 in penalties, fees and interest charges for late payments. On average he made each payment three and a half months late.

Davis says the late payments were an oversight.

"It's something that has come in the mail, and between my wife and I it's taken a while to pay it," said Davis. "It's not been a problem of us having the funds to pay it. It's just been a problem of us paying it late. I don't know how many times we've paid them late."

Update: UPI picks up on the Politico story in US House candidates dogged by tax liens; Brian Davis is mentioned:

In another case, Minnesota Republican candidate Brian Davis paid tax penalties on his Rochester, Minn., home every year from 2003 to 2007, Olmsted County property records indicate. [end update]

This just came in from the DFL [update: link to DFL press release]:

A national story in this morning’s edition of the Politico revealed that Republican 1st-District congressional candidate Brian Davis was delinquent in paying the property taxes on his Rochester home every year since 2003. According to the newspaper and Olmsted County property records obtained by the DFL Party, Davis has paid more than $1,300 in penalties and fees to the county beginning in July of 2003. Since that time, Davis has paid his taxes late during 10 out of the last 11 tax periods.

The newspaper failed to note that most recently Davis missed the May 15, 2008 property-tax deadline, finally paying his bill on June 17.

Between May of 2003 and June of 2008, Davis has gone a cumulative total of 720 days — nearly two years — without paying his fair share of property taxes.

While Davis failed to pay his 2007 and 2008 property tax on time, however, he contributed to and loaned his campaign a cumulative $160,900.

State DFL Chair Brian Melendez released the following statement:

“Many families throughout the 1st District are struggling to play by the rules and pay their bills on time. Some have even lost their homes to foreclosure in these difficult times. But Brian Davis isn’t struggling: he wrote a six-figure check to his own campaign in 2008.

“Brian Davis owes the voters an explanation. How does a millionaire doctor who can contribute hundreds of thousands of dollars to his own campaign miss the property-tax deadline — not just once, or even twice, but over and over again? Every Minnesota property owner knows that property taxes are due on May 15 and October 15. More to the point, every Minnesota property owner knows that they must pay their taxes by the due date. Apparently, Dr. Davis believes that he can live by his own set of rules.

“We already know that Davis tends to spout some pretty out-of-touch positions on issues like global warming, renewable energy and gas prices. He also likes to cite very questionable sources in backing up his faulty rhetoric. But his liberties with the facts pale in comparison to his inability to play by the rules and pay his bills on time.

See supporting details beneath the fold.

The rest of the release:

According to the Politico, Brian Davis has failed to pay property taxes on time on his Rochester home from 2003 to 2007. “Minnesota Republican Brian Davis, who is challenging freshman Democratic Rep. Timothy J. Walz, paid tax penalties on his house in Rochester, Minn., every year from 2003 to 2007 — a combined total of $1,237.05 in fines, fees and interest — according to Olmsted County property records.” [Politico, 7/23/08]

He was also late in paying his taxes in 2008, adding up to 720 days, nearly two years of delinquency. With the exception of the May 15, 2004 tax deadline, Davis has paid his taxes late in every tax period between 2003 and today. As a result, Davis has paid more than $1,300 in fines to the county.

                                                                                               

Due Date	Date Paid	Number of Days Late	Interest and Penalty Accessed
5/15/03	7/31/03	78	$95.05
10/15/03	2/6/04	115	$224.95
5/15/04	4/2/04	0	0
10/15/04	3/22/05	159	$231.17
5/15/05	6/30/05	47	$76.12
10/15/05	1/5/06	83	$207.74
5/15/06	7/5/06	52	$102.60
10/15/06	12/11/06	58	$164.78
5/15/07	5/31/07	16	$42.66
10/15/07	12/31/07	78	$170.64
5/15/08	6/17/08	34	$86.80

[ Olmsted County Property Records]

Far from struggling financially, Davis has contributed $160,900 to his own campaign. In 2007, Davis contributed $36,900 to his own campaign for Congress. So far in 2008, he has loaned the campaign $124,000 from his personal funds. [ Davis FEC Reports, 2^nd Quarter 2007, 3^rd Quarter 2007, 1^st Quarter 2008, 2^nd Quarter 2008

Image and update: We swapped out an original Chance card with the new version we've updated for Dr. Davis.