Tax liens filed against six office-seekers
Debts up to almost $14,000 vary for 3 candidates each in House, judge races
Six candidates for state offices have active state tax liens filed against them for amounts that range from about $1,286 to a total of nearly $14,000, according to state records.
The list includes three candidates for state House of Representatives seats and three candidates for district judge, based on records provided by the state Department of Finance and Administration on Jan. 19 to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.
A circuit judge candidate and another district judge candidate were also on the list, but the two candidates’ tax liens are no longer active after the taxes were paid last week, department spokesman Scott Hardin said.
The records show state House candidate Glenn Barnes of Pine Bluff has the largest tax lien balance at $13,946.72, and state House candidate Sherry Holliman of Marion has the second-largest tax lien balance at $4,907.29.
A lien is a legal claim or hold on a piece of property for security for payment of a debt. It has the same force as a judgment issued by the circuit court, where liens are filed.
According to the finance department, Glenn Barnes and his wife, Ladawn Willis-Barnes, have three state tax liens filed against them, including:
■ An income tax lien in the amount of $6,958.13 for the tax periods ending Dec. 31, 2012, and Dec. 31, 2013. The lien was filed Nov. 19, 2015, with the Jefferson County circuit clerk.
■ An income tax lien in the amount of $3,594.76 for the tax period ending Dec. 31, 2014. The lien was filed March 16, 2016, with the Jefferson County circuit clerk.
■ An income tax lien in the amount of $3,393.83 for the tax period ending Dec. 31, 2011. The lien was filed in 2016 with the Jefferson County circuit clerk.
Glenn Barnes, who is a pastor at Park Hill Missionary Baptist Church in
Pine Bluff, said pastors believed for many years that they were exempt from paying income taxes and he discovered that he wasn’t exempt during meetings that he attended, so he hired the Bailey & Thompson Tax and Accounting firm in Little Rock several years ago and he has been paying his state and federal income taxes since then.
He said he owed about $50,000 in federal income taxes and he is focusing on finishing paying off the federal income taxes owed this year.
“I’m looking to pay for the state in a year or so,” Barnes said.
Barnes is one of two Democratic candidates in House District 65 vying in the March 5 primary.
According to the finance department, Holliman has two state tax liens against her:
■ An income tax lien in the amount of $2,993.13 for the tax period ending Dec. 31, 2018.
The lien was filed March 29, 2021, with the Crittenden County circuit clerk.
■ An income tax lien in the amount of $1,914.16 for the periods ending Dec. 31, 2010, Dec. 31 2017, and Dec. 31, 2019.
The lien was filed Nov. 2, 2020, with the Crittenden County circuit clerk.
Holliman said in an interview that she plans to contact the finance department to make arrangements to pay off the unpaid income taxes.
“I am starting to see the light of day financially,” she said.
Holliman said she struggled financially after her husband was diagnosed with cancer in 2016 and the couple incurred many medical bills before he died and she was unemployed. She said she was later diagnosed with covid-19 and ended up in the hospital, which increased her medical bills.
Holliman is one of four Democratic candidates in the March 5 primary for House District 35. The other three Democratic candidates in House District 35 are Demetris Johnson Jr. of Earle, Jessie McGruder of Marion and Raymond Whiteside of Marion.
According to the finance department, the other state House candidate with a state tax lien filed against her is Rose Bud Democrat Ciara Bolte in House District 57.
The income tax lien filed against Bolte and Justin Crutchfield is for $1,320.18 for the period ending Dec. 31, 2021.
The lien was filed Oct. 24, 2022, with the White County circuit clerk.
She is challenging state Rep. Cameron Cooper, R-Romance, in the Nov. 5 general election.
According to the finance department, the three district judge candidates with active tax liens filed against them include:
■ Christopher O’Neill, who has an income tax lien filed against him for $1,948.23 for the periods ending Dec.31, 2016 and Dec. 31, 2017 with the Cleburne County circuit clerk on Aug. 15, 2018, and an income tax lien filed against him for $1,073.16 for the period ending Dec. 31, 2018 with the Cleburne County circuit clerk on Aug. 30, 2019.
Erica O’Neill is listed on the former lien. Christopher O’Neill said he and Erica were divorced in 2019.
“I’m still investigating the cause of the liens,” he said Thursday.
O’Neill, of Pangburn, said he paid off $2,000 on the liens on Thursday and plans to pay the rest of what he owes on the liens on Monday or Tuesday.
In the March 5 nonpartisan judicial election, O’Neill is vying with District Judge Eric Kennedy of Des Arc in District 23, Division 1.
■ District Judge Catherine Dean of Osceola, who has an income tax lien for $2,250.38 for the period ending Dec. 31, 2020.
The lien was filed June 5, 2023, with the circuit clerk for the Osceola District in Mississippi County. She is running unopposed. She could not be reached by telephone or email last week.
■ William Hyman of Fort Smith, who has an income tax lien filed against him for $1,286.71 for the period ending Dec. 31, 2020. The lien was filed Feb. 14, 2022, with the Sebastian County clerk. Natalie Hyman is also listed on the tax lien.
Hyman said Wednesday in a text message to this newspaper that “I was lazy on my taxes and my accountant counted a $20,000 loan as income and another $12,500 vehicle purchase for my business as income.
“I got that corrected in an amended return a few weeks ago, and I’m waiting to hear back on that,” he wrote.
In the March 5 nonpartisan judicial election, Hyman is vying with District Judge Amy Grimes of Fort Smith in District 6, Division 3.
Arron Edwards of Van Buren had an income tax lien filed against her for $2,808.26 for the period ending Dec. 31, 2022.
The lien was filed Oct. 4, 2023, with the Crawford County Circuit Court. Her husband, Bobby Edwards, also is listed on the tax lien.
Arron Edwards said Tuesday in an email to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that “I checked with the DFA [Department of Finance and Administration] and my actual balance was only $29.18. That has been paid.
“I guess I made I mistake in the amount I wrote the check for to pay taxes that year,” she wrote in his email.
Paul Gehring, an assistant revenue commissioner at the finance department, said Tuesday in a written statement “The original balance of the attached [lien] on the date it was filed (October 4, 2023) was $2,808.26.”
“When DFA responded to [the Democrat-Gazette’s] FOIA request on January 19, 2024, the payoff amount for the lien was $29.14,” Gehring wrote. “When a taxpayer makes full payment of the balance of a lien, it takes a few days for the funds to post to the taxpayer’s account.”
Hardin said Friday the lien for Arron Edwards is paid in full and no longer active. A lien released has not been filed yet for the lien but will be within the next 30 days, he said.
Arron Edwards of Van Buren is vying with Rinda Baker of Van Buren for district judge in District 5.
According to the finance department, Brooke Augusta Ware of Little Rock had a state sales and use tax lien filed against her for $1,128.35 for the period ending Dec. 31, 2015, with the Pulaski County circuit clerk on July 18, 2016, and a state sales and use tax lien filed against her for $592.29 for the periods ending Jan. 31, 2016, and Dec. 31, 2019, with the Pulaski County circuit clerk on June 15, 2020.
She said Thursday in a written statement that “I previously operated an AirBnB [and the state Department of Finance and Administration] levied estimated taxes on the property based on what they projected the rental would earn.
“Those tax amounts were high and were based on estimated, not actual, income, so the tax amount was protested,” Ware said. “I am appreciative that the Arkansas Democrat Gazette reached out to me about these liens, which I was not aware of. The lien of $1,200.00 and $57.00 have now been paid, and the liens have been released by DFA.”
Hardin, the finance department’s spokesman, said Thursday the two state sales and use tax liens filed against Ware “have been paid in full. Releases have been sent to the Pulaski County Circuit Clerk for filing…”
In the March 5 nonpartisan judicial election, Ware is vying for circuit judge in Pulaski County with Brent Eubanks and Robert Cortinez in District 6, Division 17, Subdistrict 6.2