By Marcia Gelbart
Philadelphia Inquirer
PHILADELPHIA — City bars, nightclubs and the Phillies are among hundreds of entities that owe money to the Philadelphia Police Department, according to a report issued yesterday by City Controller Alan Butkovitz.
So, too, do the state government, the Philadelphia School District, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office.
In all, the Police Department has not been paid for $6.7 million worth of services it has provided in the last eight years, the report said.
However, nearly half of the money owed, $3.2 million, is for debts that are fewer than 60 days overdue. Just $990,736 is more than a year late.
Some of the delinquent payers may no longer be in business, according to the report.
For instance, Dibo Auto Salvage of 3955 Frankford Ave., which received police services in 2001 and 2002, owes $45,840. No phone number is listed for Dibo Auto Salvage at that address.
Tiki Bob’s Cantina, a bar in Northern Liberties that closed in 2008, owes $39,249.
The biggest delinquent, according to the report, is the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, which owes $1.3 million for police services related to a construction project on Welsh Road, as well as for tuition and salary reimbursements.
The Phillies owe $212,771 for services provided at the stadium parking lot. Lincoln Financial Field, where the Eagles play, owes $158,457, though the invoices examined by the controller’s staff did not clarify the reason for the debt.
“This is a recurring problem where the parties at both ends of the field are to blame,” Butkovitz said in a news release. “The city is just as much to blame for not aggressively trying to collect the money owed, and these delinquent account entities are guilty for trying to get over on the taxpayers of Philadelphia.”
City Revenue Commissioner Keith Richardson declined comment on the report. Neither he nor other city officials had reviewed it yesterday.
Copyright 2009 Cphiladelphia Inquirer