US has 100K in tax liens against CA's republican Lt. Governor

[Liberal_in_LA]

California lieutenant governor's family business owes U.S. more than $100,000 in taxes

Reporting from Sacramento — A business owned by California Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado and his family owes the federal government more than $100,000 in taxes, according to a lien filed against the property by the Internal Revenue Service earlier this year.

It is the ninth time since 1992 that federal, state or local tax collectors have resorted to liens against the Santa Maria Republican's family farm in an effort to compel payments totaling more than $240,000, public records show.

Federal officials filed the lien April 13, two weeks before Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger swore in Maldonado as the state's second highest-ranking public official.

The single-page IRS lien indicates that Maldonado owes the government $111,146 for underpaying a category of taxes that include Social Security, Medicare and federal withholding contributions for employees on his 6,000-acre farm in Santa Barbara County.

An IRS spokesman declined to comment on the ongoing case.

Maldonado did not respond to a request for comment. But Brandon Gesicki, spokesman for Maldonado's reelection campaign, said the outstanding taxes are "absolutely not an employee compensation issue.… It is a dispute over the use of company vehicles."

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News of Maldonado's tax problem brought swift condemnation from opponents including Marty Hittleman, president of the 120,000-member California Federation of Teachers. The group is backing Maldonado's Democratic opponent, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, in the November general election.

"Here we are, a state that's lacking funds for basic social services, and we have a lieutenant governor who's unwilling to pay his taxes -- that's outrageous," Hittleman said.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-maldonado-20100724,0,6336180.story