In Sunday's newspaper, The Oklahoman published a front page, above-the-fold story about the (totally legal) business dealings of Oklahoma County Assessor Leonard Sullivan and Oklahoma County Commission Ray Vaughn. Apparently, the two public officials do not pay any property taxes on commercial buildings they own because they lease out the space to local non-profits.
What nice guys, huh?
From a Randy Ellis report in Sunday's paper:
2 officials’ property tax exempt
County assessor, commissioner both lease buildings to nonprofit groups
Oklahoma County Assessor Leonard Sullivan and County Commissioner Ray Vaughn both get a tax break that many Oklahomans would envy.
Sullivan and his wife receive $42,000 a year in lease payments from a commercial building in Oklahoma City they own, but pay no property taxes on the building.
Vaughn is part of a family limited liability corporation that is receiving $209,000 in lease payments over 41 months for use of an Edmond building it owns. Vaughn's group doesn't pay property taxes on its building, either.
And it is all perfectly legal.
What's their secret?
Both men lease their properties to tax-exempt, nonprofit organizations...
For Sullivan and Vaughn, owning income-producing properties in Oklahoma County that are tax exempt could be politically awkward, since property taxes help pay for a majority of their office expenses and their $105,262 annual salaries. As assessor, Sullivan also is responsible for determining the market values of properties in the county for tax purposes.
Sullivan became irritated when asked about the situation.
“I'm going to give them notice tomorrow to move out of the building,” Sullivan said. “I'm doing a charity deal already and you're trying to find a nasty story to do about me.”
So, you're saying public officials are (legally) taking advantage of a system that they help supervise and enforce? Shocker! Maybe next week's big Sunday story will be about energy company CEOs getting rich while legally laying off employees.