Official Appointed to ‘Clean Up’ Detroit’s Finances Now Facing Tax Issues

It just keeps getting better for the Motor City!

After the criminal prosecution and firing of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrck  for multiple federal counts of racketeering, fraud, and other crimes earlier this month, the city quickly appointed an emergency manager. Michigan Governor Rick Snyder appointed Keyvn D. Orr to fix the city's dire financial situation. The city has been plagued with crippling debt and a lack of tax collection. Residents owe the city more than $32 million in property taxes alone.

However, Orr himself has been hit with four tax liens against his Chevy Chase, Maryland home. According to public records, he owed $16,000 in unpaid unemployment taxes from 2010 and 2011. Orr claims he didn't know about the taxes and the liens placed against his million-dollar Maryland home.

Several different tax attorneys in Maryland disagreed as to whether Orr knew about the issues. They said their state is aggressive in letting taxpayers know if there are issues. Other attorneys said it's not uncommon for wealthy people to not know they have tax issues until they surface later down the road.

According to city officials, Orr wrote a check to satisfy the tax debt. But the situation still proved troubling for Detroit. After all, the man charged with improving tax collection and straitening out finances was delinquent on his own taxes and was unaware of who he owed? Detroit just can't seem to catch a break!