Section 8 landlords owe $400K in back-taxes

An I-Team investigation for 13 ABC-WTVG has revealed that local landlords who continue to receive government money to provide low-income housing owe a combined $400,000 in real estate back-taxes to Lucas County.

During last night's 11:00 news broadcast, I-Team reporter Ronnie Dahl interviewed Lucas County Treasurer Wade Kapszukiewicz who said that according to a department audit, nearly one in five local Section 8 landlords were behind on their property tax bills. Following 15 months of collection efforts, a combined $400,000 tax bill is still past due.

A representative of the Lucas Metropolitan Housing Authority, which administers Section 8 contracts with local landlords, told WTVG that the LMHA resists terminating contracts with landlords who owe back-taxes because administrators do not want to see Section 8 residents displaced from their homes.

Kapszukiewicz said that 52 county entities -- including the Toledo Zoo, Toledo Area Metroparks, TARTA and local public schools -- rely on property tax monies to fund their operations.

"If you're going to have your hand out to receive federal government money, HUD money, to be a Section 8 landlord," warned Kapszukiewicz, "you better made sure you're using your other hand to pay your real estate taxes."

WTVG currently does not have a text version of their report on their website; however as of this morning you can access the video report from the station's home page.