La Feria city manager behind on taxes

LA FERIA - City Manager Sunny Philip, who is also the city's tax assessor-collector, owes thousands of dollars in back taxes on properties he owns in Cameron and Willacy counties.

Philip acknowledged Friday that he owes taxes but blamed a slow real estate market and his workload with the city for the unpaid taxes.

Records obtained from Cameron County Tax Assessor-Collector Tony Yzaguirre's office through a state open records request show Philip owes $27,427 in property taxes on 16 of 17 properties on the tax rolls.

While taxes owed to the city of La Feria and La Feria school district are paid on the nine properties there, taxes outside the city limits are delinquent, records show.

Records show Philip owes $361.62 on one property for 2005 taxes, $15,619.62 on 16 properties for 2006 taxes and $11,446.13 on 16 properties for 2007 property taxes. Taxes for one property are paid in full, records show.

Tax information from the Raymondville school district were not available Friday, but city of Raymondville records show Philip is delinquent for $415.86 in 2006 taxes and $353.50 for 2007 taxes on one piece of property.

Those properties are lots in a subdivision he created from one parcel of land, Philip said.

Records obtained through a Texas Open Records Act request from the Willacy County tax office show Philip owes $8,144.81 on those 31 tax accounts, with $874.53 in 2005 taxes on one property and $2,908.61 on 2006 taxes. The remainder is 2007 taxes, which were due Jan. 31 of this year, records show.

Some of Philip's tax accounts are listed under the name Sunny K. Phillip. One account is listed as Sunny K. Phillips, but he sold that lot at La Feria about six months ago, Philip said.

Philip said he has worked for the city of La Feria since 1983 and has been city manager since 1993.

In recent years he has lost half the money in his retirement fund in the stock market, so he followed a friend's suggestion and borrowed money to invest in the real estate market, Philip said.

"I do owe some property taxes, but not to the city of La Feria or to the La Feria school district," he said.

"It may look outrageous, but the market is kind of slow, so it has been difficult to sell some of those properties," he said.

Also, because he is busy in his job as city manager, he has not had time to sell properties for which he owes taxes, Philip said.

A group of La Feria residents who have pushed to remove him from his post went to the FBI and made false statements about himand his property purchases, Philip said. Those people are opposed to his holding an important office for "racist" reasons, he said.

La Feria residents who have complained to the Valley Morning Star that he is the city tax assessor-collector and writes "threatening letters" to residents who fall behind on their property taxes are really opposed to him because they just don't want a "black man" as city manager, said Philip, who is from India.

"I happen to also be (tax assessor-collector for the city)," he said. "I believe it is a witch hunt issue," he said.

Despite what his opponents told the FBI, he has never bought any property at a tax sale, Philip said. "I have never compromised my position," he said.

But he has purchased properties at foreclosure sales at the courthouse when they are sold by banks or mortgage companies, he said.

"It is, again, like any other resident (can do), an option I have made for the benefit of my family," he said.

"The bottom line is that there are a lot of people who have more than one property," Philip said. "I am in no way circumventing the law."

As with any other property owner, if he does not pay the back taxes he owes, Cameron County, Willacy County or the city of Raymondville can take steps to collect those taxes, including selling his properties at auction, he said.

"It is not a crime to owe taxes," Philip said.

The Valley Morning Star also obtained information on city inspections and building permits on Philip's properties in La Feria.

He obtained building permits for repairs on several properties and renovations such as installing a garage door, air conditioning work and electrical work and paid the usual fees, the documents state.

"I'm not a slumlord," Philip said, noting that he has to make repairs and improvements to his properties. When he does so, he has to follow city regulations about building permits and payment of fees, just like anyone else, he said.