The Virginian-Pilot
©
VIRGINIA BEACH
Football star Plaxico Burress hasn't paid city taxes on his house in Virginia Beach for two years, but his wife said the check is in the mail.
City records show Burress owes $14,471 in delinquent taxes on his house on Litchfield Way, near Kellam High School. That included interest and penalties.
The latest tax payment was due Dec. 5.
Burress' wife, Tiffany, said her husband sent a check Thursday for the entire tab as soon as he learned about the overdue taxes from The Virginian-Pilot. The city treasurer's office acknowledged hearing from Tiffany Burress, but did not receive the check as of Friday.
Tiffany Burress said she and her husband were unaware of the delinquent taxes. She said they live in New Jersey, where Burress plays football for the New York Giants, and they did not receive the tax bills for two years.
"He didn't know about it until today," she said Thursday. "If it's not sent to New Jersey, we don't see it."
For the past two years, the city treasurer's office has been sending Burress' tax bills to an address in Lighthouse Point, Fla., near Fort Lauderdale. Florida assessment records show Burress bought a house at that address in 2005.
Burress, 30, grew up in Virginia Beach and is a 1996 graduate of Green Run High School. He has played eight years in the NFL - five with the Pittsburgh Steelers and three with the Giants. In 2005, he signed a six-year, $25 million contract with the Giants.
Burress bought the five-bedroom house in Virginia Beach for $290,000 in 2000, after signing his first NFL contract. The house is now assessed at $594,000. His brother lives there.
City Treasurer John T. Atkinson said his office gives delinquent taxpayers three years to catch up on their bills before starting enforcement actions.
"Anyone can fall behind on their taxes," he said.
Also, a Pennsylvania car dealer is trying to force the sale of that same house on Litchfield Way in a dispute with Burress over a sport utility vehicle.
According to a Pennsylvania lawsuit, F&L Leasing Inc. of Lebanon, Pa., gave Burress a 2004 Chevrolet Avalanche in return for his promise to appear at the dealership for publicity and to sign autographs.
The lawsuit says Burress lent the vehicle to friends without the dealer's permission, and the Avalanche later was impounded by New York City p olice.
The lawsuit does not say why.
F&L's owner, Fred Laurenzo, said Burress did not help recover the car and did not come to the dealership. "No autographs, no nothing," Laurenzo said. "He didn't want to know me."
In October 2006, a Pennsylvania court entered judgment against Burress for $36,545 - the value of the car - when Burress did not show up to defend himself. Last month, the court reversed that judgment and ordered the case to continue.
By then, however, F&L had sued Burress in Virginia Beach, asking that his house here be sold to satisfy the Pennsylvania judgment.
The cases in Pennsylvania and Virginia Beach are pending.
Marc Davis, (757) 222-5131, marc.davis@pilotonline.com
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This is what happens when
you have more money than you know what to do with, or are able to remember what you spent it on.
And why is this even newsworthy?
Why is this even in the news anyway? How does knowing this "juicy tidbit" better my life? It seems to purpose was to spark more gripes about the city.
Yep sounds like his office at work!
Yep, that's Mr. Atkinson's office at work! I co-owned a car with a son that had a delinquent tax bill - that little ole Iraq war and him being in Iraq got in the way of him paying the tax bill timely, oh and the fact that the bill, went to an address where neither of us had ever lived! Go figure! Mr. Atkinson's office sure was able to find out though where I worked and garnish my wages, but oddly he couldn't find where I lived to notify me properly of what was happening. No surprise that his office can't find a football player playing in the NFL!
Not surprised
I recently discovered through a refinance title search that my taxes were "delinquent". My tax escrow payment from the mortgage company had been applied to someone else's property. Rather than notify me with a simple phone call, the City just slapped a lien on my house and started charging interest and penalties. When I called the city treasurer's office to try to get it straightened out, they just said "it's not our problem." I've been paying taxes to VB for over 30 years. Thanks for nothing. Word to the wise...don't assume your taxes have been properly recorded just because you haven't heard otherwise.
Delinquent Taxes
Excuse me, but this guy owns several homes and he doesn't know that real estate taxes are due every year? Anyone with any sense in their head knows this. Come on people. It's the property owners responsibility to keep the Treasurer's office informed of a good mailing address. Why is it that people try to shift the blame. After not receiving a real estate tax bill on his home for two years dont't you think a light bulb should have lit up. I wonder if he claimed these taxes on his Federal tax return. Maybe his accountant should have noticed something. Anyway, the responsibility is totally on the homeowner.
Mr Ackinson is a wonderful
Mr Ackinson is a wonderful person and a wonderful business man.
Not looking hard are they?
At $4.1 million per year, that is about 3-4 minutes (of game time) pay to Plaxico Burres. It's not like he was hiding from the City Treasurer. All they had to do was turn on the TV or go to the Giant's web site. It seems the John Adkisson's personnel are not expending much effort looking for him. I wonder how much effort they spend looking for other tax cheats?