Candidates’ finances draw scrutiny in governor’s race

The bank accounts of the top candidates in the race for governor have played a relatively minor role compared with four years ago, when Deal’s troubled financial situation became campaign fodder during the race’s final stretch. But both campaigns are taking shots at their rivals’ finances as November nears and a possible runoff looms.

An Atlanta Journal-Constitution examination of financial records reveals Deal has paid off much of his debt while increasing his net worth by about $1 million since he took office. Carter, a 39-year-old Atlanta attorney and state senator, has a net worth of roughly $650,000, including a stake in the family’s farm business and the trust formed by his father.

Neither Carter nor Deal has released his tax returns, although both candidates have agreed to do so. And neither has talked much about his finances, other than to suggest it’s a distraction from the campaign.

A Nathan Deal recovery

The final weeks of the 2010 campaign played out against the backdrop of scrutiny about a $2.3 million loan Deal had guaranteed to his daughter and son-in-law for a failed sporting goods venture. He also failed to initially disclose about $2.8 million in business loans. At the time, Deal's situation seemed so dire that his campaign faced questions about whether the candidate was on the verge of bankruptcy.

The 72-year-old Republican has slowly repaired his financial situation over the past four years. Deal last year paid off the $2.3 million loan partly by draining more than $700,000 from his retirement account and the sale of the land where the sporting goods company was located.

But the biggest boost to his finances came from the 2013 sale of Gainesville Salvage & Disposal, a salvage yard he co-owned with a longtime business partner, to Texas-based Copart. The governor is set to net $3.2 million from the sale of the business and the lease of the land, part of which he is using to pay down debts.

It was revealed days after the sale that Copart has been locked in a long-running dispute with state regulators over as much as $74 million in state sales taxes. The company has repeatedly declined to comment, but its most recent financial disclosure indicates the tax dispute is still pending.

Deal placed his assets in a blind trust and said he had no knowledge of Copart's tax woes. This month he said he wants the dispute to be resolved by an independent judge rather than the state tax agency he oversees so he can't be accused of tinkering with the outcome.

What’s unquestionable is that the Copart sale has helped buoy Deal’s bank account.

“That sale probably contributed as much as anything to helping his finances,” said Jimmy Allen, the governor’s accountant. “It got rid of more than $1 million in debt.”

The governor still lists more than $2 million in debt, mostly tied to a pair of northeast Georgia houses. A 6,500-square-foot house in Gainesville that was once his primary residence is up for sale, and he plans to move to another house in nearby Demorest that is valued at $1.3 million.

In all, the governor's net worth improved from $2.8 million in 2011 to roughly $3.9 million in his latest financial disclosure form, which includes a list of assets, debts and net worth.

“He’s in much better shape. It’s not even close. He’s dramatically better off now,” Allen said. “If you look four years ago, when his net worth was $2.8 million, his debt was way up there. But I said all along he wasn’t in danger of being bankrupt.”

Carter’s private trust

Carter's disclosure lists $1.1 million in assets and about $450,000 in debt, much of it tied up in his Candler Park home. Among his chief investments is a $75,000 stake in Carter's Farm in Plains, a local landmark and agricultural business in the hometown of his grandfather, former President Jimmy Carter.

He is also an investor in a firm called Delta Plains. At one point in the disclosure form, the Democrat lists his stake in the trust as being valued at more than $5,000. At another spot, he lists it having “no current valuation.”

The trust was formed by the candidate’s father, Jack Carter, who ran an investment firm in Bermuda before moving to Las Vegas to start a consulting business. The elder Carter ran an unsuccessful Senate campaign in 2006 and the next year filed paperwork to create Delta Plains.

Nevada law shields most details about trusts. Analysts say these types of trusts are popular partly because Nevada has no state income tax and partly because they have some of the nation's most stringent protections to safeguard assets.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that Jack Carter withdrew between $100,000 and $1 million from a Carter family trust the year before his Senate bid. Jason Carter’s campaign said Delta Plains is now an “inactive investment company” that has no value, though it said he still retains his partnership in the trust.

“Senator Carter listed his ownership stake on his financial disclosure to be fully transparent and open about all of his business interests,” the campaign said.

Tax questions and limo liberals

Democrats have been keen to revive the attacks on Deal’s finances as November nears.

Carter's campaign, invoking the Copart deal, said the Republican "got rich while in office in a business deal with one of the state's biggest tax cheats." Republicans, meanwhile, focus most of their fiscal attacks on Carter's campaign on his fundraising by arguing that he's tapping a network of "limousine liberals" with the help of his famous grandfather.

Several undecided voters contacted by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution said they consider a candidate’s financial background an important part of the campaign. Marion Thorpe, a school administrator in Albany, said she sees each candidate’s personal finances as a crucial aspect of their personality and character.

“Their finances are important. I need to know where you are in society — what you are representing,” Thorpe said. “But what matters most is that when you get in office, you do what you promised you would do. Don’t promise me something you can’t deliver.”