Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) owes some $1,200 in tax penalties and interest on her $2.3 million Capitol Hill manse, reports the Daily Caller today:
According to public records available online in the District of Columbia’s “Real Property Assessment Database,” the D.C. government has penalized Landrieu $1,003.33, plus $202.62 in interest, for 2012 taxes on her mansion on East Capitol Street. It is unclear what the penalty is for.
Given the amount, the penalty is most likely for late payment. According to the D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue, a late property tax payment is met with a penalty of 10 percent of the amount owed and an interest rate of 1.5 percent of the amount owed.
This isn’t the first time that Landrieu has been hit with penalties and interest for being late on property taxes: in 2005 she paid $1,684.70 in penalties and $339.89 in interest, while the following year it was $838.84 in penalties and $183.92 in interest.
In the latter half of 2011, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) similarly fell back on her property tax payments, the second time she had been late. Other members of Congress have done much worse though—over the years up to 22 senators and at least six representatives have been busted inappropriately claiming the city’s Homestead Deduction, which is limited to those that claim full-time residence in D.C.
Martin Austermuhle