Report: Net Worth of Your Politicians

Amy Keller | 9/1/2009

U.S. Rep. Suzanne Kosmas (D)
District 24: Parts of Orange, Seminole, Volusia and Brevard counties
Net Worth: $2.7 million to $5.9 million

Suzanne Kosmas

Changes: Florida’s moribund real estate market whacked Kosmas’ income nearly in half between 2007 and 2008. Kosmas, who ousted Republican incumbent Tom Feeney last year, earned $157,476 in commissions from her real estate company, Prestige Properties of New Smyrna Beach, in 2007. Last year, however, she earned $86,549 in commissions. Several of her personal real estate investments have also declined in value. In 2007, four properties she owns in New Smyrna Beach and the office building where her real estate business is located were worth nearly $2.5 million, according to property tax records. In 2008, the value of those holdings dropped by nearly $500,000 to around $2 million. An Arlington, Va., home in which she has a 25% investment declined in value by $27,300 between 2007 and 2008. In 2008, her pension fund investments lost 27.79%, dragging her 2008 beginning balance from $537,391 to $376,813 as of Dec. 31, 2008.

U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam (R)
District 12: Most of Polk County, parts of Hillsborough County and a small section of Osceola County
Net Worth: $3.5 million to $10.2 million

Adam Putnam

Changes: When Putnam was first elected to Congress in 2004, his net worth was somewhere in the range of $389,021 to $1.06 million. It grew quickly over the years, however, and by 2007, Putnam’s net worth was between $3.5 million and $14.3 million. His fortune declined last year, taking a beating in the stock market. The 35-year-old congressman, who is currently making a bid to be Florida’s next Agriculture Secretary, lost money in eight mutual funds he sold last year for between $8,002 and $120,000. Between 2007 and 2008, the market value of his Bartow home declined 12% from $239,513 to $210,097, according to the Polk County property appraiser. He still earned between $100,001 and $1 million from his family’s citrus and cattle operation in Bartow.

U.S. Rep. Connie Mack (R)
District 14: Lee County and coastal portions of Charlotte and Collier counties
Net Worth: $468,072 to $1.9 million

Mack’s marriage to Rep. Mary Bono boosted his net worth.

Changes: In 2006, and until Dec. 14, 2007, Mack’s only assets consisted of his two homes — one in Alexandria, Va., and one in Fort Myers. With the first and second mortgage on his Virginia home somewhere in the $600,000-to-$1.2 million range, Mack’s net worth was between -$749,999 and $399,998. On
Dec. 15, 2007, Mack married Rep. Mary Bono, widow of the late entertainer and former Rep. Sonny Bono. While Bono’s assets have dipped slightly, the marital partnership lifted Mack well out of the negative territory. The “Bono Collection Trust” generates between $100,001 to $1 million in royalties and interest — and they have a home in Palm Springs to boot.

U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney (R)
District 16: Parts of St. Lucie, Martin and Palm Beach counties and Highlands, Glades, Okeechobee, Hendry and Charlotte counties
Net Worth: -$114,987 to $413,998

Tom Rooney

Changes: In 2007, Rooney, then a Palm Beach County attorney, was drawing between $20,209 and $67,200 in income from myriad investments, including Westchester Mercantile Market, which operates a flea market at Yonkers Raceway in New York, a trust and a family partnership. By 2008, those same assets were generating between $3,506 and $4,301. Another investment, the General Braddock Brewing Co. II, which operates Rooney’s Public House, an Irish pub in Jupiter, has also been operating at a loss. Rooney and his wife, Tara, bought a new home in Tequesta in 2007 only to see its value plummet — from $580,000 to $364,490. There is a bright spot, however. Rooney doubled his salary by getting elected to Congress: While he earned about $89,000 a year as a lawyer with Kramer, Sopko & Levenstein, he is now earning $174,000 as a congressman.

Allen Boyd

U.S. Rep. Allen Boyd (D)
District 2: All or part of 14 Big Bend counties
Net Worth: $3 million to $12.8 million

Changes: Allen Boyd, a fifth-generation farmer who grows cotton, timber, sod and peanuts on his 2,500-acre farm in Jefferson County, fared well over the past year or so thanks in part to a $1 million-to-$5 million holding in BCT Cotton Gin in Valdosta Ga. In 2007, that interest generated $50,000 to $100,000. In 2008, Boyd earned between $100,001 and $1 million. At the same time, his liabilities have shrunk considerably. In 2007, he owed $500,001 to $1 million on a mortgage on his Millwood investment property in Jefferson County. By 2008, his debt on the property was between $250,001 and $500,000.

Tags: Politics & Law, Banking & Finance, Government/Politics & Law