Nutter tells tax delinquents to pay what they owe or pay the price

To all the city's tax deadbeats, the mayor has but one thing to say: The free ride is over and it's time to pay.

In an effort to crack down on tax delinquents, Mayor Nutter made an example of the Bustleton Podiatry Association in Northeast Philadelphia yesterday as he called it out for not paying taxes since 1996.

"We cannot afford to underwrite or subsidize this business behind me," Nutter said. "They need to pay their taxes like everyone else. This is not a threat. It's very real and we're not playing - it's a promise."

Bustleton Podiatry Association, on Bustleton Avenue near Rhawn Street, owes the city more than $114,000 in back taxes. Nutter said that's enough money to pay the salaries of two police or fire recruits, or four library assistants or sanitation workers. The city tried to establish a payment plan with the delinquent business, which got a judgment in August, but the city has not come to an agreement with the podiatrists, said Keith Richardson, commissioner of the Revenue Department.

A woman inside the business did not open the door for comment, and when asked if the business was open she shook her head no. Calls to the office and the home of podiatrists Harry Ruday and Dean Ruday were not returned as of last night.

The Sheriff's Office will be posting the equipment and the contents of the business up for sale next Thursday.

"We hope this individual and his business comes to be compliant," Nutter said, "if not the next step may be working with the District Attorney's Office to prosecute for the trust-fund taxes they owe the [city]."

Nutter began exposing tax delinquents - including during a Center City sidewalk showdown in March 2009 with a lawyer who owed taxes - in November 2008 in order to aggressively crack down on tax evaders.

During the city's first tax-amnesty program in more than two decades this summer, the city received more than $40 million in unpaid taxes with an additional $20 million going to the school district. Nutter said that more than 27,000 applications were completed.