This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, March 24, 2011 - The campaign chief for L. K. "Chip" Wood, the Republican candidate for St. Louis County assessor, says supporters are even more energized as a result of news of Wood's latest tax troubles.
"The phones are lit up here,'' said Wood campaign manager John Campisi on Wednesday. "We had 250 yard signs this morning, and we now have only 50 left."
Campisi was reacting to the latest news, first reported by KMOX radio, that Wood's real estate business is in arrears for almost $13,000 in property taxes owed to the city of St. Louis for his St. Louis office at 5600 Hampton Avenue. The back taxes are for 2009 and 2010.
A week ago, Wood had acknowledged that his firm had been late in paying its 2008 personal property taxes on its old address at 11575 Gravois in St. Louis County. The company paid $2,169.32 in back taxes and penalties by Dec. 31, 2009. The assessor's office still went to court in early 2010, but the case was dismissed when Wood provided proof of payment. He later got a written apology from the county.
In that incident, Wood had blamed the move and misdirected mail. "We moved, forgot the bill. When we got the bill, we paid it,'' said Wood in an interview then. "It's a non-event."
This time, Wood so far has declined to return calls from the Beacon. But he told other news outlets that the unpaid taxes for the Hampton office were the result of tough economic times and a need to conserve company cash.
A spokesman for Wood's Democratic opponent, state Rep. Jake Zimmerman, said Wednesday that there's no excuse for unpaid property taxes -- especially for someone who wants voters to select him on April 5 as St. Louis County's first elected assessor in decades.
Zimmerman called on Wood to pay his taxes before spending any more money on his campaign. Zimmerman, who has had a financial edge, has been airing TV ads for about a week. Wood has said he plans to follow suit later this week.
Zimmerman campaign spokesman Ryan Hobart said he was particularly stunned that Wood's initial public comments Wednesday were "that he didn't know about the (Hampton Avenue) tax issues until he received calls from the media."
"Mr. Wood wants to assess property values in St. Louis County, but he hasn't paid property taxes on his office for two years," Hobart said. "There is a reason that Missouri doesn't allow politicians who owe back taxes, like Mr. Wood does, to run for the state legislature. He needs to do what is expected of every taxpayer in this county: Pay his taxes and pay them on time."
But Campisi asserted that Wood's allies blame Zimmerman for the public disclosure of his tax troubles. "People just walked in mad as hell over the negative campaigning,'' Campisi said.
Based on Wednesday's public support, Campisi added, "I hope he keeps it up."
