Metro

Liu kicked in arrears

John Liu

John Liu (Christopher Sadowski)

Embattled Comptroller John Liu, the city’s chief fiscal officer, is an accused deadbeat.

Con Edison and the state Tax Department have taken separate legal action against his campaign committee, People for John Liu, for allegedly failing to pay nearly $1,500 in outstanding bills and taxes, The Post has learned.

Con Ed is suing in Brooklyn Civil Court for about $500 in unpaid electric bills and has sicced a collection agency on him.

The delinquency covers energy usage from a campaign office that Liu rented at 1424 Fulton St. in 2008 and 2009 when he was running for his current job, records show. Con Ed filed its initial suit Oct. 14, 2009. A second suit was filed June 25, 2010, after the bills remained unpaid.

Con Ed typically exhausts all options — including trying to work out an extended payment plan with a customer — before taking legal action. Litigation isn’t filed for at least several months, and only after a customer refuses to respond or ducks payment.

“There is an outstanding balance on the account at that address . . . we are working to resolve it,” a Con Ed spokesman said.

Meanwhile, the Tax Department has filed a separate case against People for John Liu, claiming it owes $943 in back withholding taxes for campaign workers, covering October through December 2009.

That action was filed June 4 in Queens.

The Liu campaign address listed was a post office box in Flushing, the neighborhood where the comptroller resides.

“We give people plenty of opportunity to make payment prior to filing a warrant,” said department spokesman Ed Walsh.

Accusations of Liu’s campaign arm stiffing Con Ed and the tax man could not come at a worse time for him. The feds have launched a probe into suspected illegal donations to Liu’s campaign.

The committee insisted it did not know about the outstanding bills owed by his campaign. “We are not aware of these items, and although they seem strange, we will pay these amounts when we get the documentation,” said Liu campaign spokesman George Arzt.

Asked why the campaign described the debts as strange, Arzt said, “It’s been two years and we haven’t received any documentation.”

Critics said Liu’s failure to pay his own bills and get his finances in order raises questions about his fitness to be comptroller.

“It’s the height of arrogance. It’s the contempt he has for his obligations. He expects other people to behave in a certain way and he doesn’t behave that way himself,” said Julia Harrison, a Queens Democratic district leader and former councilwoman.