Wisconsin's Lieutenant Governor wants to raise your taxes but doesn't bother paying his own. Mandela Barnes owes $2,225 in delinquent property taxes and late fees on his Milwaukee condo. Even more galling, instead of paying them, he made ridiculous excuses and put than $30,000 down on a second condo in Madison. As the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Dan Bice reports:
Barnes disputed the information earlier this week, sending the Journal Sentinel a screenshot of a portion of a 2018 tax bill that he said was proof that he was paying his property taxes in installments.
But Zwaga said the record from Barnes was just the original tax bill that included the monthly amounts he would owe if he opted to pay in installments instead of a lump sum. She said he failed to make the first payment in the agreement by Jan. 31.
"It is delinquent," [Milwaukee City Treasurer spokeswoman Jessica] Zwaga said.
Barnes countered: "How is there no installment plan if it (the bill) says installment plan? I'm done with this one."
Asked if he is going to pay the debt, he said: "I'm not going to get foreclosed on. Of course, I'm going to pay my property taxes."
Barnes then jokingly offered to turn over his medical records for inspection.
Yet, while failing to take care of his Milwaukee taxes, records also show that Barnes bought a second condo in Madison for $122,000 in February. He took out a $92,000 mortgage, suggesting he put $30,000 down on the property.
Either Barnes doesn't understand that the bill he provided still needs to be paid or he is a really, really bad liar. Either way, it's incredibly revealing. Seeing as he can't be bothered to pay his parking tickets, either, it seems that Wisconsin's lieutenant governor is something of a delinquent. Just call him Mandeadbeat Barnes.