Christina Jedra

The News Journal

Sheila Winfrey-Brown has a lien from the Internal Revenue Service for $28,352.69.

Her record of tax issues stretches as far back as the 1980s.

Winfrey-Brown was promoted by Mayor Dennis P. Williams in 2013.

The head of the Wilmington Department of Finance has an outstanding bill from the federal government for over $28,000 in income tax – and she’s had issues paying her taxes for decades.

Sheila Winfrey-Brown has a lien from the Internal Revenue Service for $28,352.69 in unpaid income taxes from 2003 to 2009, an IRS notice shows.

When reached by phone on Wednesday, Winfrey-Brown declined to answer questions about her financial history.

“I have no comment about that,” she said.

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The lien, filed in 2012, is the latest in a string of tax bills that were paid years past their due dates, records show.

In 2011, Winfrey-Brown paid off a $11,359.59 bill to the state of Delaware that was filed in 2002, according to a state judgment. She paid her 2005 personal income tax of $980.18 in December 2009, an assessment notice states. Over $39,000 in taxes from 1998 through 2001 went unpaid until 2006, according to an IRS lien notice.

Her record of tax issues stretches as far back as the 1980s, with a judgment filed in 1988 for the $445 she owed in income tax for the previous year, documents show.

Winfrey-Brown was promoted by Mayor Dennis P. Williams in 2013. She was previously deputy director of the department, which manages financial functions of the city including maintaining records, billing and collections. Winfrey-Brown, who reports directly to the mayor, oversees a staff of 86 and a budget of over $14 million, according to the 2017 city budget.

Williams, who is running for re-election, said he knew about Winfrey-Brown’s most recent federal tax lien before he hired her.

“She didn’t hide it from me,” he said. “She told me, and I have great respect for her for being so honest.”

Williams said he does not see a conflict between Winfrey-Brown’s current debt and her position leading the city Finance Department. He said she is “working on it” and has a payment plan with the IRS.

“Look at all the other people that have tax problems,” he said. “People get laid off, things go wrong in their families. Some of the best people have issues with it. As long as she’s [paying] her debt to the federal government and responding to them and they’re content, there’s nothing wrong with that.”

Winfrey-Brown was part of the Williams administration transition team and made $100,114 her first year. The city declined to give her current salary. The News Journal filed a Freedom of Information Act request for it on Thursday.

Soon after her appointment, Winfrey-Brown was criticized for living in Bear, a violation of Wilmington's residency requirement for city employees. She told The News Journal at the time that she lived in Wilmington with her daughter during the week and returned to the suburbs on the weekend.

Her most recent federal tax lien, as well as other tax documents, are associated with a property on Warren Drive in Bear.

Winfrey-Brown received a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville in 1976. Her LinkedIn profile states she also earned a master of business administration degree in general finance from Widener University in 1985. A representative from Widener could not confirm that degree because of the school’s privacy policy.

Williams said he was unaware of Winfrey-Brown’s tax issues outside of the current federal lien but said he is not concerned.

“A lot of people have issues with taxes, but she’s paying it,” he said. “Ms. Sheila Winfrey-Brown is an honest person.”

Alexandra Coppadge, a city spokeswoman, said knowledge of Winfrey-Brown's tax history "likely would not have influenced the hiring decision."

"She was hired based on her knowledge and experience in finance and accounting," she said. "This matter has no bearing on her job responsibilities."

Coppadge said that the Government Finance Officers Association has awarded Wilmington a certificate of achievement for excellence in financial reporting every year since Winfrey-Brown became director.

"This serves as a reflection of Ms. Winfrey-Brown’s leadership of the department," she said.

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City Councilwoman Loretta Walsh, who is a member of the Finance Committee, said the director's tax history is "unfortunate."

"This doesn't bode well for the position she's in," she said. "I’m sure the people that owe taxes or parking ticket [fines] to the city of Wilmington are not going to be happy over this."

Walsh said the mayor makes decisions about hiring and retaining department heads.

"When you have employees that you make this type of appointment for them, you have to be the one who decides because they are a reflection on you," she said.

Steven Solomon, deputy director of the technical services center of the Government Finance Officers Association, said city leaders should be cautious when considering job candidates with dubious personal finance histories.

“You want to make sure whoever you hire is not going to have red flags and risks associated with their need to try to grab the resources of an organization,” he said. “It’s hard to imagine someone keeping that job and that this came up and they still hired the person.”

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