Putnam Is Area's Richest Lawmaker

By BILLY HOUSE The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 27, 2007

WASHINGTON - Rep. Adam Putnam remains the wealthiest member of the Tampa Bay area congressional delegation, with his stake in his family's citrus and cattle business making him a millionaire several times over.

Sen. Bill Nelson owns undeveloped pasture and other land that belonged to his grandparents a few miles from Kennedy Space Center in Brevard County, which now is worth between $1.25 million and $5.5 million.

Rep. Kathy Castor inherited stock in Coca-Cola, Dow Chemical and Texas Instruments from her grandmother last year.

Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite and her husband own a 1959 MG collector car and are avid members of a British car club.

These and other details emerge from the latest disclosure reports that House and Senate members are required to submit every May 15, covering their financial activity from the previous calendar year.

There's more than curiosity served by revealing this information.

There are important public policy reasons why members of Congress should so publicly report their personal finances, government watchdogs say.

"This is one of those things that boil down to trust," said Massie Ritsch, communications director for the Washington-based Center for Responsive Politics, which monitors money in politics.

"These reports exist so the public and reporters can spot any potential conflicts of interest and make sure their lawmakers aren't personally benefiting from their actions."

Ritsch also thinks they help to prevent conflicts.

"Because lawmakers know their finances are going to be laid bare publicly, they are more apt to conduct themselves in an ethical manner," he said.

However, in their annual filings, House and Senate members do not have to list their government salaries (members of Congress made $165,200 last year), their spouses' income or the value of their primary residences.

As evident in Putnam's case, it's hard to say how much a lawmaker is worth. That's because disclosure forms only require broad ranges of dollar figures for things such as the value of assets.

Still, the reports provide a peek at most of the lawmakers' assets, liabilities, income, gifts they have received, free travel they've accepted, and boards they sit on.

The House and Senate don't officially release these reports for public review until June.

But this month, Nelson and area members of the House agreed to provide theirs to The Tampa Tribune upon request.

Republican Sen. Mel Martinez declined.

Here are some of the details that come out of the reports provided.

Putnam Among House's Wealthiest

Putnam, the third-ranking Republican member of the U.S. House and scion of a prominent family in Polk County agriculture, reports that his assets by the end of 2006 were between $3.2 million and $13.2 million.

His only reported liability: a mortgage of between $250,001 and $500,000 on his row house in Washington.

The Bartow lawmaker and House Republican conference chairman even made money last year by renting out a room of that Washington house.

That rent brought in between $5,001 and $15,000 for the year from a tenant who is a relative of a Putnam staffer, spokesman Keith Rupp said.

Putnam's overall net worth - tabulated by subtracting his reported liabilities from his assets - is between $3 million and $13 million. That would place him among the wealthiest members in the 435-seat House.

Still, he does not rate high enough to be in the top 25.

The Center for Responsive Politics placed Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., at the top in 2005, putting her worth between $168 million to $289 million. In the Senate, Herb Kohl, D-Wis., was listed as the wealthiest in 2005, worth between $219 million and $234.5 million.

Putnam doesn't show off his wealth, said Rupp, who works out of Putnam's Bartow office.

"He's probably the most low-key person you'll ever run into - he drives an old pickup truck. It's not unusual for farmers and ranchers here to be like that," he said.

In fact, the largest of Putnam's assets listed was his ownership share of Putnam Groves, worth between $1 million and $5 million. He also reported having $1 million to $5 million in Citrus and Chemical Bank accounts.

Most of Putnam's "unearned income" from assets - $1 million to $5 million - was listed as "S" corporation income from Putnam Groves.

That designation allows corporations generally to not pay corporate income taxes on its profit. Rather, its shareholders must pay income taxes on their proportionate shares of the corporation's profit.

Along with being a general board member for Putnam Groves, Putnam reported that he serves on the boards of the Young Patriots Foundation, a nonprofit organization that helps send students to Washington for a week to learn about government; Polk County Family Caregiver; the Center for Florida History at Florida Southern College; and is an advisory board member to Volunteers in Service to the Elderly.

Nelson Twice Admitted Free

By the end of 2006, Democrat Nelson's assets added up to between $1.98 million and $7.1 million. A big chunk of those assets is the pasture and other undeveloped land in Brevard County.

In his filing, Nelson lists one of those properties as land worth between $1 million to $5 million. The other undeveloped property is estimated to be worth between $250,001 and $500,000.

Nelson reported no liabilities.

Nelson listed "unearned income" for the year beyond his Senate salary as between $14,409 and $38,804, mostly from dividends and interests from stock securities or treasury notes owned by him or his wife.

Nelson received free admission worth $700 to an annual celebration and fundraiser with the Orlando Ballet, Opera and Philharmonic Orchestra on Dec. 31.

Nelson also received free attendance worth $2,500 to an Oct. 7 grand opening celebration for the Carnival Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, at which he stayed for only a portion of the event.

Brown-Waite Reports Free Trip

Brown-Waite, a Republican from Brooksville, listed assets held jointly with her husband, Harvey, a former New York state trooper, of between $953,054 and $2.94 million. That includes stocks, bonds, money market accounts, mutual funds and IRAs.

It also includes a house in Washington, listed as between $500,001 to $1 million. An English garden-type apartment in the house was rented out last year for between $5,001 and $15,000.

The couple also reported $250,001 to $500,000 in liability from a mortgage on that house, which they purchased in 2005. The couple sold another Washington property in 2005.

Brown-Waite bumped up the estimated value of the 1959 MG to between $15,000 and $50,000, after having listed it in her 2005 disclosure report as worth between $1,001 and $15,000.

Her congressional Web site notes that she and her husband are members of the Nature Coast British Car Club.

Brown-Waite also reported that she and a family member not identified took an expenses-paid trip in January 2006 to Tel Aviv, Israel, on the dime of the American Israel Education Foundation.

The disclosure forms do not require the cost of the trip to be specified, but does note that lodging and food also were included.

The former Florida state senator received $14,420 in state pension payments during 2006.

She also received $20,179 in pension income and deferred compensation from New York, where she worked earlier in her career as a state Senate staffer.

In September, she and her husband bought land in Cherokee Lake, Tenn., for between $100,000 and $250,000. Earlier in 2006, they sold two lots in Shallotte, N.C., listing that transaction at between $15,001 and $50,000.

Castor Inherited Stocks

Tampa Democrat Castor reported assets held jointly with her husband as between $456,030 and $1.38 million by year's end, most in stocks and other investments and savings accounts.

Among the stocks were $15,000 to $50,000 in Coca-Cola, between $15,000 and $50,000 in Dow Chemical, and $15,000 to $50,000 in Texas Instruments, all inherited from her grandmother last year.

Her husband, lawyer Bill Lewis, is listed separately as having between $160,014 and $526,000 in assets, also mostly stocks and other investments.

Castor reported no liabilities.

The couple jointly purchased between $113,003 and $295,000 worth of stocks and other funds.

Castor also reported that she received $83,948 in salary as a Hillsborough County commissioner in 2006.

She continues to serve on the local boards for nonprofits Habitat for Humanity and 1000 Friends of Florida, which acts as a watchdog over local, regional and state planning and growth management.

She has quit two posts, adviser to the University of South Florida Library and the Children's Board of Hillsborough County, since her election to Congress last fall.

Joint Account Is Young's Only Asset

As he did for 2005, Young, a Largo Republican, reported between $201 and $1,000 in interest income from one itemized asset, a joint account with his wife, Beverly, at the Wright Patman Federal Credit Union. The value of that account was listed at between $15,001 and $50,000.

Other than that asset, his three-page disclosure shows no sales or exchanges of other assets exceeding $1,000 during the year, and no liabilities exceeding $10,000.

Young and his wife own a home in Woodbridge, Va., but that is not required to be in the report.

Young did report that his wife has an IRA with the same credit union, worth between $1,001 and $15,000.

His disclosure form also shows that $2,500 was donated to the Armed Forces Foundation in lieu of his being paid that amount in an honorarium for receiving the 2006 Veterans of Foreign Wars Congressional Award.

Bilirakis Owns Interest In Building

The freshman Republican from Palm Harbor reported assets between $251,021 and $832,000, including assets held jointly with his wife and dependent children.

Among those holdings, Bilirakis reports a $100,001 to $250,000 interest in a law office building in Holiday, and a 50 percent interest in five lots at Orange Blossom Hills in Ocala, with a value between $15,001 and $50,000.

Bilirakis' liabilities were reported as totaling $60,002 to $115,000, including a $50,001 to $100,000 mortgage on the law building.

Bilirakis reported income of $26,003 as a member of the state Legislature last year, as well as $73,950 in salary from the Bilirakis Law Group, and $52,808 in other income tied to the law business.

His "unearned income" from dividends and interest from stocks totaled from $21,716 to $66,000. That amount included between $15,001 and $50,000 in rent from his law office building.

Bilirakis reported selling between $4,004 and $60,000 in stock in General Electric, Johnson & Johnson, Lowes Cos. and Walgreen Co. He reported purchasing between $15,001 and $50,000 in Old Harbor Bank stock.

He has resigned as president of the Bilirakis Law Group since being elected to Congress in November, as well as president of Pegasus Title Services, from which he has terminated all financial interest.

He also resigned from several unpaid advisory positions, including one with Lighthouse of Pinellas, a nonprofit organization.

A balance on a Lowe's credit card belonging to Bilirakis and his wife reached between $10,001 and $15,000 during the year, but "that debt no longer exists," Bilirakis spokesman John Tomaszewski said.

Tomaszewski said Bilirakis used the credit card for a home improvement project.

Still, the filings require that all liabilities exceeding $10,000 during the previous year must be reported.

Reporter Billy House can be reached at (202) 662-7673 or bhouse@tampatrib.com.