Delaware Senate candidate owes $50K to feds, $10K to state

Christina Jedra | The News Journal

Show Caption Hide Caption Watch: Candidates debate for state Senate District 2 Delaware's Democratic candidates for Senate District 2, Bobbie Cummings, Sam Guy, and Darius J. Brown hold their second public debate at the Route 9 Library and Innovation Center in New Castle.

Delaware Senate candidate Darius J. Brown is vying for a seat in which he would participate in setting state tax rates, but he owes about $60,000 to the state and federal government, according to liens filed this year.

The aspiring District 2 representative was hit with a federal tax lien in April for $50,803 in unpaid income taxes from 2012 through 2016. On May 14, the Delaware Division of Revenue filed a complaint in Superior Court for $9,854 in unpaid taxes and penalties from 2014 through 2016.

"I have a tax liability," Brown said on Friday. "I have a payment arrangement to make a monthly payment. That’s what I do to satisfy my liability, which is no different than other people with the challenges they have."

Brown, 36, declined to provide an explanation for how his taxes appear to have gone unpaid for years.

"That’s a personal matter," he said. "I'm not forfeiting my responsibility. I pay it. I will pay it until the debt is satisfied."

Brown, a Wilmington city councilman from 2013 to 2016, said he didn't know how much he's already paid off.

Former Wilmington police Chief Bobby Cummings and Wilmington City Councilman Samuel Guy are running against Brown in the primary race to replace Sen. Margaret Rose Henry, who is retiring. Her district includes the northeast section of Wilmington, the Seventh Street peninsula, Southbridge and the Del. 9 corridor.

Cummings and Guy did not respond to requests for comment about their opponent.

Brown, vice president of constituent services for Connections Community Support Programs, said his debt is akin to anyone else's financial struggles.

"I believe that my constituency will understand that," he said.

It's not the first time Brown has failed to pay his taxes, according to court records. In May 2016, the state filed a lien against him for $4,788 for unpaid taxes and penalties from 2010 to 2013, court records state. At the time, he was in the midst of what would become an unsuccessful run to be Wilmington city treasurer.

He satisfied that lien on April 11, according to court records.

Cassandra Marshall, president of the Wilmington Democratic Party, said tax payments don't usually slip through the cracks when an individual works for a company.

"If you're working for a real employer, why do you have that kind of tax issue?" she asked.

Most of Brown's tax troubles, spanning from 2010 to 2016, appear to have occurred when he was working as an independent contractor. Self-employed professionals are responsible for filing their own taxes.

He was employed full-time by Connections, a nonprofit state contractor, from June 1, 2010, to Jan. 19, 2011, as a constituent relations specialist, said Connections spokesman Adam Taylor. From October 2011 to October 2016, Brown was a contract lobbyist for Connections, among others, Taylor said.

In November 2016, Brown returned as a full-time employee as vice president of constituent relations, according to Taylor.

"Connections takes seriously our obligation to remand our employees’ tax and other obligations to the appropriate entities," Taylor said.

"During any period that Darius Brown was employed as a W-2 Connections employee, his taxes, garnishments and other liabilities were paid on time and in the correct amounts. His tax liability, which was not disclosed to us by him, is not the result of any action that Connections took or failed to take."

Brown can be cagey with the press, Marshall said, but not with voters.

"They would want to know why it is that somebody who is asking for their vote might not be living up their obligations in the same way they might be," said Marshall, whose party committee has not made any endorsements.

"In terms of answering people's questions about whether you can be trusted to carry about the people's work, it's fair for him to answer that question to voters."

Jennifer Hill, program director for Common Cause Delaware, a nonprofit government watchdog, said she is surprised Brown is running.

"That’s concerning because of the multiple liens," she said.

Financial vulnerabilities can become problematic for public officials, according to Hill.

"If you need money, that could possibly leave you open to influence to people who have money who can potentially solve your problem," she said.

John Flaherty, a director for the Delaware Coalition for Open Government, said he would expect Brown to report his debt to the Public Integrity Commission, which collects financial statements from candidates for state office. The commission said a statement hasn't yet been filed.

A bill before the General Assembly would require all statewide and other candidates on the general election ballot to disclose whether their state and federal income taxes are filed and paid and whether their property taxes have been paid.

The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Deborah Hudson, R-Fairthorne, was assigned to the House Administration Committee but has not advanced.

The liens are just one of many factors voters will consider at the polls, Flaherty said.

"Some people will give that greater weight than others, but I don't think it's an automatic disqualification," he said. "Darius, I think, is going to learn that if he has any other issues that voters may want to weigh, he may want to bring it up first."

Contact Christina Jedra at cjedra@delawareonline.com, (302) 324-2837 or on Twitter @ChristinaJedra.

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