North Carolina Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson said several unpaid vehicle tax bills in his home county -- some from well over a decade ago -- were a surprise to him.
Records show Robinson, a likely candidate for governor in 2024, was delinquent on four Guilford County tax bills, WRAL-TV reported. Their due dates ranged from 2006 to 2018.
His wife was identified on a fifth delinquent bill, due in 2013. The balance on the five bills was $1,271.
The county tax director and his office confirmed that all five bills were paid on Thursday, the day after the television station brought the bills to Robinson’s attention.
“We were unaware of any vehicle taxes owed, and as soon as we were, we paid them immediately,” Robinson said in a statement.
His wife, Yolanda, said Thursday that she handles the couple’s tax paperwork and hadn’t known about the unpaid bills, either. Two of the vehicles whose taxes hadn’t been paid were for vehicles that had been totaled, while a third had been sold, she said.
Robinson, who won election in 2020 in his first run for public office, had personal finance troubles in the past, including filing for bankruptcy three times in the late 1990s and early 2000s and an unsuccessful child care business.
Robinson said he learned lessons from those past experiences and believes it would prepare him to lead state government agencies if elected governor.
“I now have a responsibility to the people who voted me into this office to show some restraint and to show, quite frankly, some leadership,” Robinson said. “We intend to do that.”