Breaking down Blunt's DC Tax Breaks
In early April, the Kansas City Star broke the news that Roy Blunt and Abigail Perlman-Blunt were improperly receiving tax breaks on their mansion in Washington, DC. Until very recently, the DC government has considered Blunt and Perlman to be full-time District residents. However, since both also claim to be Missouri residents, they should not have received the special tax breaks meant for DC residents. (A letter from the District government explaining the residency requirements may be found here, courtesy of Roll Call.)
Interested in the total amount and timeline of the breaks, I submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the District for more information. Among other things, the documents provided by the District show that the total tax breaks were actually higher than first reported, and that the breaks were applied to each tax bill since 2004 (Abigail began voting in Missouri in 2004). Here are some of the key bits of information from the docs:
- All together, the Blunts appear to have received more than $8,100 in property tax breaks as DC residents since 2004.
- The Georgetown house should have been assessed and taxed at $1.62 million, but was capped by the DC government at $1.55 million for 2009 on the assumption that Blunt's were full-time DC residents.
- Roy Blunt's name was listed on the tax bills for years 2007, 2008 and 2009. This is relevant when considering his campaign's attempts to suggest it was an Abigail-only problem.
- The property's homestead status and benefits were printed on the tax bills sent to Blunt and Perlman by the DC Government for all relevant years.
Here is a breakdown of Homestead and Assessment Cap Credits for years 2004-2009.
| Year | Total Assessment | Homestead Deduction | Deduction Credit | Capped Assess | Cap Credit |
| 2004 | $1,045,940 | $38,000 | $364.80 | $919,117 | $853.00 |
| 2005 | $1,187,450 | $38,000 | $364.80 | $1,029,411 | $1,152.37 |
| 2006 | $1,231,270 | $60,000 | $552.00 | no | - |
| 2007 | $1,558,950 | $60,000 | $528.00 | $1,288,397 | $1,852.86 |
| 2008 | $1,627,630 | $64,000 | $544.00 | $1,413,237 | $1,278.34 |
| 2009 | $1,624,960 | $67,500 | $573.75 | $1,551,061 | $54.00 |
| Total | - | - | $2,927.35 | - | $5,190.57 |
The District's online tax records for the property have not yet been updated, and still read, "currently receiving the Homestead Deduction." This is quite possibly a bureaucratic problem, assuming that the Blunt's followed up after The Star's story broke. Also, tax payment records available at this time do not show a repayment for improper breaks.
