Progress Illinois

Marty Ozinga's image as a capable businessman has been at the forefront of his campaign for the open 11th Congressional District seat. "I am not a politician," the GOP candidate is quick to point out, highlighting his decades-long ownership of a concrete company with business in much of the Midwest. To hear him tell it, this background is exactly what qualifies him to hold elected office. For instance, here's a line from his campaign website:

As someone who has made payrolls and managed budgets---as a successful Illinois job-creator---Marty understands how our economy works and has the experience to help get us back on track.

But a review of Ozinga Bros.' tax history shows that Marty didn't quite "manage budgets" as well as he says he did. As the table below shows, Ozinga-owned companies were late on their Cook County tax payments at least 20 times between 2001 and 2004, leading the county to file numerous tax complaints in circuit court:

(Click here to view a table with links to the source documents.)

Cook County isn't the only government that had to force Ozinga to meet his financial responsibilities. Records obtained by Progress Illinois also show that, between 1990 and 2004, Ozinga Bros. was late on over $45,000 in state taxes in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin, leading to legal action against them in each state.

This tax history is only the most recent news to arise about Marty's concrete operation that conflicts with his carefully constructed image as a responsible, community-oriented businessman. Former Ozinga associates have long alleged that he set up front companies to exploit city contracts set aside for minority-owned businesses. And more recently, five witnesses in Marshall County contradicted Ozinga's public statements about a land deal he entered into with family farmers there. That incident is part of an extended legal battle between Ozinga and a group of rural landholders.