by KYW's Mike Dunn
In the midst of a crackdown on Philadelphians who owe back property taxes, Mayor Street is red-faced after learning that he is among the scofflaws.
About three weeks ago Mayor Street announced an aggressive effort to reclaim one-third of the $700 million that the city is owed in back property taxes:
"If the taxes are delinquent, you will have to pay."
A local newspaper did some digging and found that among those who owe money is John Franklin Street, our mayor. The Philadelphia Daily News found that he had not paid taxes on two of his four North Philadelphia properties since 2003, and owed $4,800.
The mayor's spokesman, Joe Grace, says after the newspaper called, Street wrote a check:
"As soon as it came to the mayor's attention, the mayor immediately issued a check for $4,798 to pay those tax bills in full."
Grace says the bills for those properties were going to the wrong address, but he would not say why the mayor did not realize the bills were missing all along.
As a result of this, the Street administration is now urging people who, like the mayor, own multiple properties but are not getting the bills to contact the Revenue Department by calling 215-686-6442.
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