Updated Sunday, Aug 22 - See details at bottom.
So today, there was another Orlando Sentinel article HERE about Lake County School District candidate JoAnn Jones and her not listing overdue property taxes of $65,000 on several properties on her candidate financial disclosure forms, and she has not made property tax payments on their $700k house since 2008. Her husband told them he would pay the fees today. Jones is a very nice lady and teacher who has consistently claimed she had sound business experience, but this doesn't sound good, especially one week before elections.
I had been getting emails with links to "proof" on this issue for the last week, but it appears the Sentinel verified the information.
Update Aug. 22: The Orlando Sentinel said that Mr. Jones paid $195,000 in overdue back taxes to the County tax collector, leaving only $4200 due on "seven parcels in a sub-division."
vj
Below is the article, or use the link above...
Candidate didn't list $180K in back taxes
August 19, 2010
TAVARES — School Board candidate JoAnn Jones and her husband owe about
$180,000 in back taxes on several properties they own in Lake, records
show.
Jones, a teacher at East Ridge Middle School who's seeking the seat from
District 3 in Tuesday's primary election, said on the
financial-disclosure form she filed with the local elections office that
she owes a combined $2.6 million to several banks.
The form doesn't include $65,000 in property taxes — some as far back as
2003 — that are owed on about a dozen properties owned by the candidate
and her husband, Jon D. Jones. They haven't paid taxes since 2008 on
their six-bedroom home on a lake in Clermont that's valued at nearly $700,000, according to records from the Lake tax collector and property appraiser's offices.
Jon Jones, who is or was a real-estate developer, also owes at least
$113,000 in additional real-estate taxes on numerous other properties in
the area, records show.
JoAnn Jones did not return phone calls and e-mails requesting an
interview for this story. But her husband left a voice-mail message for
the Orlando Sentinel saying he intends to pay their outstanding tax debt
today.
He said the property is part of a retirement portfolio and that they intentionally let the taxes become delinquent.
"Like many other investors, I let the taxes go and then I pay them with
interest and penalties when due," Jon Jones said in the voice-mail
message, adding he would gladly provide the Sentinel with a copy of the
receipt once the tax debt was paid.
JoAnn Jones didn't include the debts on her financial-disclosure form, a
notarized document political candidates must file that includes
information about their income, assets, liabilities and other financial
interests.
T. Wayne Bailey, a political-science professor at Stetson University in DeLand, said Jones owes the public an explanation.
"It's somewhat disappointing she didn't reveal this in her own
instance," he said. "If you were very smart, you'd want to be the first
one to talk about it."
Jones is one of four candidates vying for the seat now held by School
Board Chairwoman Cindy Barrow, who decided not to seek re-election. The
other candidates in the nonpartisan countywide race are retired
Detective Alan Garcia, chiropractor Tod Howard and retired Illinois
school-district administrator Jay Kosner, all also of Clermont.
Unless one of the candidates collects more than half the votes, the top
two vote-getters will enter a runoff in the November general election.
Garcia declined to comment on the issue, and Howard stopped short of criticizing Jones for not disclosing the debt.
"To me, that's between her and the voters," said Howard, who has raised
nearly twice as much money for his campaign as Jones and the other two
candidates.
Kosner questioned Jones' fiscal responsibility.
"I feel that anyone who owes that much in back taxes probably can't manage his/her own expenses very well," he said.
Denise-Marie Balona can be reached at [email protected]
