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Mark Crockett, Republican candidate for Salt Lake County mayor, said Thursday he has cleared up a financial matter that led the State Tax Commission to file a lien against him and his wife in March.
Crockett said he discussed the matter Thursday morning with Tax Commission officials and determined he had missed paying a $30 processing fee in mid-March when he resolved an overdue tax problem. Including interest over the last six months, he said he cleared up his obligation with a payment of $30.52.
State Tax Commission officials declined to address Crockett's case Thursday, citing privacy policies.
The state agency had filed a tax lien March 19 against Crockett and his wife, claiming the Holladay couple owed $172.46 for unpaid 2009 income taxes.
After talking to Tax Commission officials Thursday, Crockett acknowledged he received a letter from the agency on March 15, notifying him $141.46 was due on an earlier tax filing that had been adjusted by the Tax Commission.
The GOP candidate said he paid that bill March 20, but did not see there was a processing fee attached to it.
"He was not delinquent in paying taxes, but did miss the payment of the processing fee," said Crockett spokeswoman Evelyn Call. "It has now been paid."
The tax lien was disclosed Monday in a blog post by J.M. (Jeff) Bell, a Democratic candidate for Utah House District 43 in Salt Lake County.
Call decried the revelation as "October electioneering" by Democrats worried that a new poll that shows Crockett leading his Democratic foe, Ben McAdams, by 3 percentage points a month before the Nov. 6 general election.
McAdams said the lien reflected poorly on Crockett's claims he has the business skills to run the county efficiently. Community leaders should lead by example, he added.
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