Bice: Ex-health chief Bevan Baker was delinquent on payday loans and taxes despite $147,000 salary
Daniel BiceIn his final years heading the troubled city Health Department, Bevan Baker was privately dealing with a very serious cash flow crunch.
Milwaukee County records show the Internal Revenue Service put a lien on Baker's property in July 2015 for unpaid federal income taxes totaling $26,578 for four previous years. The lien has not been released.
Even more shocking, Baker — who was making $147,842 a year when he left office — had to go to court in 2012 to consolidate and pay off a series of delinquent loans from about a dozen payday lenders and other short-term, high-interest outfits.
Among the creditors were CashNet USA, Payday Max, American Web Loan and Cash Store No. 238. The debts ranged from $325 to nearly $2,500.
Baker took until mid-2016 to pay off the 13 lenders under a financial restructuring plan that allowed him to extend the due date for the debts. He paid a total of $13,882 to get out of the financial hole.
Officials with Mayor Tom Barrett, who appointed and oversaw Baker, had no comment on Baker's personal financial troubles and whether they affected his job performance. Baker also did not respond to calls or emails.
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In January, Baker left his job at City Hall as news broke that his beleaguered department failed to provide services to families of thousands of children who had tested positive for lead — or at least document those efforts.
Troubles also emerged with a city program aimed at reducing lead hazards in homes. The problems were detailed in a scathing report of the department released last month by the mayor.
The department is now being led by Patricia McManus, the longtime leader of the Black Health Coalition of Wisconsin.
Several weeks ago, Baker put out a statement defending his time at the Health Department, where he had worked since 2001, the last 14 years as commissioner. He said he would have no further comment until the various investigations of the agency are completed.
Records show Baker, 56, can draw a pension of up to $34,000 annually for his years of service to the city. His salary was just about the same as the mayor's when he left office.
Despite his relatively hefty haul, Baker, who is married with two children, began running into problems a little more than five years ago.
The IRS lien shows that he has unpaid personal income taxes for each year from 2011 to 2014, with the largest sum being $7,420.
He had also begun taking out small, short-term loans from a variety of firms. In December 2012, he filed for a voluntary debt consolidation plan under Chapter 128 of the state code.
It's similar to Chapter 13 federal bankruptcy, which allows a debtor to pay off creditors over a specified period of time.
But in a Chapter 128 filing, petitioners have to make public only the debts they plan to consolidate. They also do not have to reveal incomes or expenditures.
Baker's initial filing showed more than $15,000 in debt to a total of 11 creditors, all of which were payday lenders except for his attorney. In the filing, Baker said he was "indebted beyond debtor's ability to pay debts as they mature."
Under a plan approved by the trustee, Baker paid more than $510 a month for three years, a sum that was then divided and paid to his creditors. The list of creditors and the amount owed was adjusted a couple of times, resulting in total payments of slightly less than $14,000.
Yet, even as he was paying off these payday loans, Baker was sued in February 2016 by USA Web Cash over a claim that he defaulted on a short-term consumer loan taken out less than nine months earlier. The lender said Baker owed $4,442.
The matter was eventually resolved out of court.
Contact Daniel Bice at (414) 224-2135 or dbice@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanielBice or on Facebook at fb.me/daniel.bice.