In 2011, Nutter announced that he was cracking down on tax deadbeats, saying in a news release that current and retired city employees must be held "to the same, if not higher standard as we hold other Philadelphians who owe back taxes, liens or have unpaid City bills." But when reporters learned in June that Nutter had a gas lien on his house, he and McDonald sang a different tune. They tried to talk the press out of running the story, describing it as a "private" matter.