By Patrick Crowley
The Cincinnati Enquirer

FORT MITCHELL - Republican congressional candidate Geoff Davis is once again facing election-year accusations of not paying Boone County business taxes.

But just as it did when the allegations first surfaced during the 2002 race, the Davis campaign portrayed the charges as a misleading and negative political attack.

"Republican primary voters are going to see right through this," Davis' campaign manager Justin Brasell said Thursday.

Davis, Erlanger Republican Kevin Murphy and Union chiropractor Kelly King are running in Tuesday's Fourth Congressional District Republican Primary. The winner takes on Democrat Nick Clooney of Augusta in the fall.

Murphy issued a news release Thursday accusing Davis, a self-employed manufacturing consultant, of failing to obtain a Boone County business license "to avoid paying local business taxes and fees for more than two ... years."

"Like a cicada, he operated his business underground for 21/2 years, only coming up for a license when he decided to run for Congress in June 2001," Murphy said.

Murphy said the issue is a "ticking time bomb" that Clooney and the Democrats will use against Davis in the fall.

It was the campaign of Democratic incumbent U.S. Rep. Ken Lucas who brought up the issue during the 2002 race. Lucas, who beat Davis by three points two years ago, is not seeking a fourth term.

To explain why he didn't pay the business tax, Davis was forced to make an embarrassing admission that his business had been incorporated in Tennessee because he could not purchase adequate and affordable health insurance for his employees in Kentucky.

On Thursday, Brasell used the same defense, saying Davis didn't pay the business license because he was not required to do so.

"Geoff's Kentucky residence was not his principal place of business," Brasell said. "He was not required to pay the tax because the business was incorporated in Tennessee."

Brasell said that, when Davis did establish his Hebron home as his prime place of business in 2001, he began paying the tax.

"Kevin Murphy is completely distorting the facts in an effort to smear Geoff Davis right before the election," Brasell said. "He is doing nothing but running a negative campaign and making up allegations. Geoff did not believe he owed the taxes, and we're still only talking about $25 a year for two years" for the county's business license.

E-mail pcrowley@enquirer.com