Federal tax lien now paid in full, Acropolis says
Mayor says council president should bow out of mayoral race
BY PATRICIA A. MILLER Staff Writer
Brick Township Council President and mayoral hopeful Stephen C. Acropolis says that his life is "an open book" as a public official.

And Acropolis doesn't think the recent controversy over his now-paid $27,516 federal income tax lien will damage his run for the mayor's seat. He paid the lien in full on Sept. 6, one day after it was made public.

"I don't think it will," he said. "I think people will judge me on the totality of my record, not what happens in the last month before the election."

"People in Brick are more concerned with getting across town and not getting stuck in traffic," he added. 'People are more concerned with those type of things."

But Mayor Daniel J. Kelly - Acropolis' Democrat opponent in the race for the two remaining years of former Mayor Joseph C. Scarpelli's term - thinks differently. He says Acropolis should consider stepping down from the race.

"I think he should think about it," Kelly said.

And the tax lien will definitely be an issue in the upcoming campaign, the mayor said.

"Yes, without a doubt," Kelly said. "He wants to be mayor of the town. When you're mayor of a town, you have to be responsible. He's a financial guy. Come on. To paraphrase Steve, it doesn't smell right. "

Both Acropolis and his wife, Wendy, are named in the June 25 lien on their Port Road home. It shows unpaid federal tax balances going back to 2002. Acropolis owed the Internal Revenue Service $171.96 in 2002. The unpaid balance for 2003 was $729.70. He owed $7,854.06 for the 2004 tax year and $18,760.71 for the 2005 tax year, according to the lien filed in the Ocean County Clerk's Office.

Acropolis said he made a $3,000 payment on what he owed earlier this summer, to keep it from becoming a lien.

"If you owe the IRS under $25,000, they will not put on a federal tax lien," he said.

So news of the lien came as a surprise, he said.

"I feel bad," Acropolis said. "It's embarrassing to me and the people that support me. Some people would have run away. Some people wouldn't have paid."

Acropolis is an independent contractor for AIG Royal Alliance, a financial consulting firm in Toms River.

"We do estate planning and income planning for high-net-worth people who are retired or close to being retired," he said.

He estimates his taxes each year since he is self-employed.

"It's my fault," he said. "It's something I don't want to see happen. Sometimes I overestimate, sometimes I underestimate. I've been in the installment plan for years. That's how I pay my taxes."

Why didn't he pay the back taxes sooner than he did?

"In order for you to take money out of investments to pay, you might have to sell something prior to it maturing," Acropolis said. "Had I known that [the lien] was going to happen, obviously I would have done it sooner."

Acropolis doesn't think that his personal lien should be a campaign issue.

"My life is an open book as an elected official," he said. "I've always been a stand-up guy. I take responsibility for what happened."

"And my wife is going to kill me if this ever happens again," Acropolis added.

Gregg Semanick, the New Jersey public information officer for the Internal Revenue Service, said Monday he was forbidden by law to discuss anyone's tax situation or even a hypothetical tax situation.

"Based on federal law, I'm not permitted to discuss a particular taxpayer's situation," he said. "I'm not permitted to discuss a particular tax matter."

But according to the IRS's Web site, once a lien is filed, a person's credit rating may be harmed.

"You may not be able to get a loan to buy a house or a car, get a new credit card, or sign a lease," according to the Web site. "Therefore it is important that you work to resolve your tax liability as soon as possible, before lien filing becomes necessary."

A lien is filed after the IRS assesses the tax liability, sends a notice and demand for payment, and if the debt is not fully paid within days after notification of the lien, according to the IRS.