CONTROVERSY OVER BACK TAXES AND FINANCIAL REPORTS WERE REPORTED IN MARLIN'S CAMPAIGN IN APRIL 2000.

The Colleyville News & Times first reported in April 2000 on Dennis Marlin's failure to file his campaign finance reports timely.  Further, Marlin was delinquent on city taxes, upon filing for office, and the taxes had not been paid.

It was reported that Marlin later paid his back taxes prior to the election. The Marlin campaign finance report was stamped as received on May 5, 2000, the day before the general election and considerably after the required date required by Texas election statutes.

However, records now appear to show that Marlin has owed additional back taxes since May 2000*, the month he actually first took office as a City Councilman.

*These Taxes would have been due by January 31, 2001.

During the election period, there were questions concerning Marlin's "eligibility" to continue as a candidate, because the City Charter states that candidates shall "not be indebted to the City". 

Marlin unseated Mayor Pro Tem Nelson Thibodeaux for Place 4 on City Council during the General Election on May 6, 2000.

On May 21, 2000, the Fort Worth Star Telegram reported, "Marlin was late paying his city property taxes and filing his campaign finance reports."  

Thibodeaux (who is the Publisher of this Internet News Agency site) said he did not know specifics about Marlin's delinquent status, he stated, "My taxes increased substantially these past two years and I know a lot of us in the city may have to sacrifice to pay their taxes on time. This certainly should create concern about Mr. Marlin's self-professed expertise in handling the city's financial affairs. Now the citizens find out he has apparently owed city back taxes during his entire time on council. This is a clear violation of the City Charter. I think citizens have a legitimate question about the validity of any of Marlin's votes on previous issues, assuming he was not even eligible to remain on council without paying his own taxes."

Thibodeaux continued, "At best it seems disingenuous to be voting on issues that have committed the city tax payers to millions of dollars in bond debt, while his personal property taxes remain outstanding. If more citizens followed Mr. Marlin's example, we will most certainly have a difficult time paying off the millions of dollars in debt he voted for."

Dennis Marlin
 The Governmental Data Services Report as of 9:37 am 5/30/01 lists Marlin delinquent to the City of Colleyville for more than $2,400. He also is listed as owing the GCISD School District.  Total delinquent taxes are listed as more than $13, 250.00.
Click Here to See Report

Marlin apparently is the only elected official to have the dubious distinction of owing taxes to the city during his entire tenure on council, no other city elected officials appeared on the list obtained by LNO. 

During the most recent election, Marlin had proclaimed his "financial expertise" in a city-wide campaign letter. In a somewhat unusual move, both Dennis Marlin and Ginny Tigue's names appeared on unsigned mailers to the citizens of Colleyville supporting Donna Arp for Mayor.

The letter, attributed to Marlin, states, "Because of my financial background, I understood the potential financial disaster that the four of you had set up for Colleyville and was glad to help fix it by running for city council."
Click Here to See Letter

7008 Shepherds Glenn
MarMac Custom Builders LLC, of which Marlin has been identified as a major principal, is listed as delinquent for $1,571.14 taxes on this house located on Shepherds Glen in the Raman Chandler development of Caldwell's Creek.

7101 Pleasant Run Rd
 Marlin is listed as delinquent for $11,686.77, as of May 30, 2001, on 3.3 acres at this location.

According to the Colleyville City Charter, Section 3.02 Qualifications ...each member of the City Council shall be and remain:

(c) Not indebted to the City

CLICK HERE TO SEE CITY CHARTER PAGE

Local News Only has sent the following e-mail to the Mayor and City Council and asked for their response to this article.  Response will be posted in a follow up article. LNO provides these elected officials an opportunity to respond without edit.

E-mail date stamped May 30, 2001 @ 9:03 PM