When you're poor, it can be hard to pay the bills. When you're rich, it's hard to keep track of all the bills that need paying. It's a lesson Cindy McCain learned the hard way when NEWSWEEK raised questions about an overdue property-tax bill on a La Jolla, Calif., property owned by a trust that she oversees. Mrs. McCain is a beer heiress with an estimated $100 million fortune and, along with her husband, she owns at least seven properties, including condos in California and Arizona.
San Diego County officials, it turns out, have been sending out tax notices on the La Jolla property, an oceanfront condo, for four years without receiving a response. County records show the bills, which were mailed to a Phoenix address associated with Mrs. McCain's trust, were returned by the post office. According to a McCain campaign aide, who requested anonymity when discussing a private matter, an elderly aunt of Mrs. McCain's lives in the condo, and the bank that manages the trust has not been receiving tax bills on the property. Shortly after NEWSWEEK inquired about the matter, the McCain aide e-mailed a receipt dated Friday, June 27, confirming payment by the trust to San Diego County in the amount of $6,744.42. County officials say the trust still owes an additional $1,742 for this year, an amount that is overdue and will go into default July 1. Told of the outstanding $1,742, the aide said: "The trust has paid all bills shown owing as of today and will pay all other bills due."
Dan McAllister, treasurer- tax collector for San Diego County, said that about 3 percent of San Diego's approximately 1 million property owners default on their property taxes each year. The county assesses a 1.5 percent penalty for each month that goes by unpaid and puts houses up for sale after five years. "We do hear an awful lot of excuses for why people don't pay," McAllister said. "Under the law, the property owner is responsible for keeping the address current. We're only as good as the information we are given."
Fair enough, but if you're going to run for President of the United States of America, and if you can't pay taxes on all seven of the homes you own while you steadfastly try to convince everyone you're a good guy, you should probably fire the idiot that let this one get away. This is San Diego freaking County--basically, as close to McCain country as anyone is ever going to get, even more so than Orange County, to be sure. And no one in the county government thought to clean this up on behalf of McCain? As in, step on his foot and make it go away before Iowa and New Hampshire?
And how's that Karl Rove trick about making Obama look like the elitist going? You know, so many people can relate to the McCains. Just last week, I'll bet you a lot of them were deciding between buying gas or buying food and they said to themselves, "damn! I forgot to pay taxes on my condo in La Jolla!"
--WS
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