Philly Mayor Threatened With Gas Shutoff for Delinquent Bill

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter was so late in paying his gas bill he was threatened with a three-day shutoff notice, the Philadelphia Daily News reported Thursday.

The story is no doubt an embarrassment for the city's Democratic leader because, the Daily News notes, Nutter has "repeatedly staged news conferences to publicly shame tax deadbeats."

The newspaper said Nutter received the notice — which showed a sizable past-due balance of $507.76 — on May 3. Two weeks later, the city placed a lien on his house, according to tax records obtained by the newspaper. The lien was removed last Saturday.

Nutter, who earns an annual $174,400 a year, dismissed the financial imbroglio, telling the Daily News: "The bill is paid. Nothing happened. There's no story here."

City Controller Alan Butkowitz wasn't impressed.

"If you're going to demand that other people pay their taxes and bills on time, you have to make sure you have your own paid, Butkowitz told the newspaper.

Nutter, 55, now in his second term running the City of Brotherly Love, unveiled a new system for collecting delinquent taxes last February.

"We want to make a significant distinction between those who want to pay and can’t because of various financial circumstances . . . and those who choose not to pay, who, naturally, are your garden variety tax deadbeats," he said at the time.