Monday, November 2, 2009
Dellums Fails to Pay at Least $239,000 in Taxes
Business / People / Politics Robert Gammon — Mon, Nov 2, 2009 at 4:56 PM
Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums and his wife Cynthia Dellums owe at least $239,000 in back income taxes, according to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. Sources say the couple's serious financial troubles could rule out a reelection bid next year and force him to return to his once-lucrative Washington D.C. lobbying practice.
The IRS says the Dellumses failed to pay enough personal income taxes in 2005, 2006, and 2007. On October 14, the IRS placed an official lien against all of the couple's personal property for failure to pay adequate taxes in each of those years, according to records filed with the Alameda County Recorder's Office. Typically such liens remain in place until the back taxes are paid off.
In a statement made through his spokesman Paul Rose, Dellums disputed that he and his wife owe as much money as the IRS contends, although he acknowledged that they have not paid as much taxes as they should have. "There are previous disagreements with the IRS, regarding the amount owed," Dellums said. "The issue is being addressed and the matter will be resolved in short order."
Jesse Weller, a spokesman for the Bay Area office of the IRS, declined to comment on the Dellumses' case, citing the agency's rules on taxpayer confidentiality. But a knowledgeable source says Dellums and his wife have faced financial difficulties ever since they moved back to Oakland and he took over as mayor. "Their financial issues have weighed heavily on his mind from Day One," the source said. "There's no question."
The mayor's federal income tax delinquency doesn't speak well for his ability to steward public resources in a city facing severe financial challenges. It also raises serious doubts about his ability to make good decisions. And being a tax delinquent violates his civic duty as both a public official and a citizen. "Public officials are supposed to be leaders for the rest of us," noted Oakland good-government activist Charlie Pine, a frequent critic of the mayor.
Revelations about the mayor's failure to pay taxes also could sink his chances of winning reelection - if he still harbors any plans of running again.
But that looks highly unlikely because he and his wife apparently don't earn enough from his official Oakland salary of about $184,000 a year to sustain the lifestyle with which they have become accustomed. For example, the couple rent a stately four-bedroom, three-bath home on Skyline Boulevard in the Oakland hills that appears to be out of their price range. The Dellumses don't have to reveal how much rent they pay each month, but according to public records, their home is rather large. It's 3,204 square feet and sits on 9,667-square-foot lot. According to Zillow.com, it's valued at $924,500, and was likely worth much more than that before the housing crash.
The Dellumses also are well-known for their expensive tastes. The mayor dresses in exquisitely tailored suits and his official mayoral calendar reveals that they eat out rather often, usually in upscale eateries. In addition, Cynthia Dellums has held no paid positions since he became mayor, sources said. Instead, she acts as his unpaid advisor and is a fixture at City Hall.
Dellums took an unpaid leave of absence from his D.C lobbying firm, Dellums and Associates, when he became mayor. Oakland's City Charter requires that the mayor have no outside jobs while in office. A source said the couple took a big financial hit when they came to Oakland, because he was making much more money as a lobbyist.
But that doesn't square with the IRS lien and other public records. The Dellumses appear to have gotten into serious financial trouble at least a year before he became mayor and while he was still a lobbyist. In 2005, the couple, who file jointly, failed to pay $124,199 in federal income taxes, according to the lien. In addition, federal lobbying records culled by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, reveal that Dellums' lobbying firm, Dellums and Associates, only reported $90,000 in lobbying income that year. As a result, it's unclear exactly how the Dellumses had so much tax trouble on so little income. (Although Dellums also likely gets a Congressional pension in excess of $100,000 annually, it's not clear exactly how much he receives because he does not have to report it on his official statements of economic interests filed with the city.) In short, it appears that Dellums' lobbying firm wasn't doing well and he was in serious tax trouble long before he took his mayoral oath.
The IRS lien states that the Dellumses failed to pay $66,554 in taxes in 2006, which was also before he became mayor in January 2007. Lobbying records, however, show his lobbying firm did much better that year - earning $240,000 in income. But that's still substantially lower than the $370,000 the firm reported making in 2004. The IRS also maintains that the Dellumses failed to pay $48,247 in personal income taxes in 2007 - his first year as mayor.
Regardless of when the Dellumses tax problems began, they likely have known about them for several years. The IRS routinely sends repeated notices to tax delinquents, demanding payment, before placing liens on their personal property.
Comments (12)
Showing 1-12 of 12
Ron Dellums is a special personality to the city of Oakland. Dellums repudiated his long family standing of being hard core Southern Republican and he switched over
night to be a democrat because as he said " that's where
the votes are. If the sponge is democrate, that's what he'll
use to get elected, the phylosophy and principle of party are only accessory items. That's why Dellums has been such
successful lobist for the military establishment. Dellums
has been a success story in generating city income by raising
parking citation from $ 25 to $ 45 and inciting its zelous enforcers to even give parking tickets on dead motorist !
Dellums's leadership can be gauged by the number of followers
trailing his fancy eating protocole with all the left over foods his office aids distributes that he generously paid off his own pocket from the $ 200 daily living expenses the
City afford him from the general funds NO questions asked.
Finally Congresman Ron Dellums has for the record paid
voluntarily automatic taxes taken from his pay check.
The lien made by the I.R.S. over a tax lien against his
assets is in error, it is in their internal irrgularity.
To answer made erlier, He said he would be striken if it
turned out not made with the intent to hararras the Mayor
fror his KING like behavior. Remember the old saying
" King can do no wrong " ( at tax payer's expenses ) Dd.
like
dislike
newandrew: "It is possible for people who can barely balance their own checkbooks to run lean businesses"
is that some kind of elmer-fudd defense of dellums??? he can't balance a checkbook but can run a city? unfortunately, the people of oakland now see he can't do either.
Hey, The Public, learn to think for yourself instead of thinking through the gigantic meme-machine of the utterly oppressive taxation state. Turn your own ridiculous scare quotes into statements like "I wish more people in public office like Dellums had the balls to not pay their taxes" and you will see, through others' eyes how pedestrian and cliched your "sycophantic" position sounds. You choose to pay your taxes because you are either a socialist, too cowardly to oppose the state, or completely ignorant of how your taxes are apportioned and how the tyranny of the few determine where your money goes. Sucker.
"The mayor's federal income tax delinquency doesn't speak well for his ability to steward public resources in a city facing severe financial challenges."
That is your opinion and you are entitled to it. It is possible for people who can barely balance their own checkbooks to run lean businesses. Depends on your priorities. Your priority, for instance, is parroting the cliches of the oppressive taxation regime, and of those who blindly follow it even though they have no idea at all how it works.
I wish he'd owed more and gotten away with every last penny of it.
I agree with M. Ortega, Ron has been an improvement over Jerry, and the Task Force process may turn out to be a legacy for Oakland and other governmental systems that should adopt it or something similar as a way of breaking through the kiss-my-signet-ring attitude of far too many electeds.
As to the taxes; big deal. When he pays them off after resolving his dispute with the IRS, that'll be great: we will then all rest assured that justice has been done, and the one agency that has done so much to end confusion in this country can claim another victory over one of the 100 or so million people who have filed improperly or have some sort of beef with the IRS's method of calculating what you owe. Remember the famous study where the same tax info was presented to 20 or so different IRS employees and every one them came back with different amount owing?
Meanwhile, let's keep hoping that this Mayor will continue to bring stimuli to Oakland even though he doesn't make nearly so much as the Director of the Port of Oakland, the City Manager, numerous University Presidents, etc., none of whom have jobs that can ever be described from an urbanological point of view as half as intrinsically critical to the overall economy of the greater Bay Area metropolitan region.
I know this is a great opportunity to find fault with one of our icons (the well-tailored-suits item is kind of left field, though, compared to the way others drape themselves), but let's see what the response is before going entirely ballistic and calling up the National Guard to keep the sky from falliing.
Thanks,
- S
"Revelations about the mayor's failure to pay taxes also could sink his chances of winning reelection"
I doubt it. Dellums will be running against DON PERATA for chrissake. This isn't going to be a contest between two guys who are squeaky clean. Though he wasn't convicted, Don's a heckuva lot dirtier *smelling* than Dellums.
His nickname: DP -- Dirty Politician.
"It is to Dellums credit that he has never solved his by selling his political voice to the highest bidder."
Have you forgotten all those years Dellums was a lobbyist for military contractors? After 20+ years of being anti-war and anti-military?
@ M. Ortega:
I call B.S. on you.
Just because you have a deep appreciation of the work he has done, does not give him a pass on complying with the law. The system that allows him to do good works and to pay his salary exists in part because we all pay our taxes.
On personal sacrifice; sure, he is a giving man. But he chose to do it and is paid do do it. There are other heroes out there that work with the homeless and other needy groups that are volunteers, that pay their taxes.
On stewardship: he is not excused from meeting his legal obligations, like anyone else. Even Nelson Mandela pays his his taxes. It has not underminded his ability to be a leader at any point.
Gimme a break. Lets set your big thank you aside, and put a big, "please pay your taxes like the rest of us" on the table. I ask you to do the right thing and join me by asking DELLUMS to do the right thing so we can put this behind us. Then you can carry on with your Sycophantic rant.
Dellums made a personal sacrifice to become Mayor of Oakland, and it is one which has benefitted the residents enormously. Crime is down and restaurants are up - the only two items the media regularly covers. But many other improvements have come to the city, including a more robust democracy with participation by hundreds of people who never had access to City Hall before, and the Mayor's integrated approach to stimulus funding which has brought Oakland many more resources than it would otherwise have received from Washington.
In addition, his stewardship of city resources has actually been excellent. Brown left the city with a huge mostly hidden deficit. Dellums determined to create a truly balanced budget, and he has done so.
Most people in Oakland have financial problems right this minute. It is to
Dellums credit that he has never solved his by selling his political voice to the highest bidder.
As a city, we owe Dellums a huge "thank you" and we can only hope that he will find the personal wherewithal to run again. This may be the most balanced and thoughtful administration Oakland has ever had.
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