Bright Matthews late on property taxes, home sold at tax sale
Special election candidate Margie Bright Matthews has not paid Colleton County property taxes since 2013, according to county records.
The Walterboro attorney and her husband, Patrick, owe at least $4,500 in 2013 and 2014 property taxes on at least six properties listed under their names on county tax rolls.
That's in addition to the pending loss of the couple's home on Jones Swamp Road, which was sold at Colleton County's delinquent tax sale in December after they failed to pay two years of taxes on it, said county tax collector Larry Lightsey. If the couple doesn't pay $6,200.80 in owed taxes and penalties to redeem the property, its deed will be turned over to the winning bidder in December.
As the owner of her own law firm, Bright Matthews contends that her personal finances ebb and flow with her business expenses and revenues.
That often leads to late payments on business and property taxes, but being late in making payments has "nothing to do with my abilities to be in the state Senate," she added.
"Unless you've owned a business and worked and owned property, it's difficult to understand that you must prioritize differently," she said. "Anyone who owns a business knows how it is. Every month is not the same. If you're a lawyer, you get lump sums at different times and you have to allocate accordingly."
Her opponent, state Rep. Kenneth Hodges, D-Green Pond, agrees that it can be easy to fall behind when business is slow. He has been late several times on his quarterly business taxes within the past few years but he is not delinquent on any business or property taxes now, according to Hodges and county tax records.
"As a small business person, you do fall behind," he said. "Even if you're a day late, you're delinquent. It is what it is."
In the six weeks after Bright Matthews announced her campaign for Senate District 45, she raised just short of $80,000, according to S.C. Ethics Commission campaign finance reports filed Aug. 17. That's more than all 11 of her Democratic opponents combined.
Those funds may only be used on campaign expenses, not personal tax payments, per state rules.
Bright Matthews has until the first week of October to pay back owed taxes or risk her properties' inclusion in this year's delinquent tax sale, according to Lightsey and the Colleton County Assessor's Office.
Bright Matthews said Friday she plans to pay up before the deadline and repeated that her back taxes are not relevant to her would-be duties as a legislator.
"I don't think it's pertinent," she said. "I'm still of the opinion that I have done the best that I can as a business owner and as a citizen to pay my taxes, even when times (have been) difficult," she said.
Follow reporter Zach Murdock on Twitter at twitter.com/IPBG_Zach and on Facebook at facebook.com/IPBGZach.
Related content:
- Election preview: Sen. Clementa Pinckney's replacement must tackle disparity issues, Aug. 30, 2015
- Special election: Hodges leans on experience while Walterboro candidates stand out in first debate among Democrats vying for Pinckney's seat, Aug. 19, 2015
- 13 candidates to vie for slain Sen. Clementa Pinckney's state Senate seat, July 13, 2015
This story was originally published September 5, 2015 at 1:11 PM with the headline "Bright Matthews late on property taxes, home sold at tax sale."