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The article brought Hupman some unwelcome attention.
One Triad TV station found that he also owes the IRS $4 million. It found a federal lien filed in 2004.
Another station interviewed people around Mebane. Councilman Ed Hooks told WFMY the city is powerless to kick Hupman off the council. "I can't explain it, I think it's a phenomenon that is... strange," he said. "In other cities he would have been voted off immediately."
Hupman, who faces re-election this year, has had more than tax problems.
Last month, the N.C. Attorney General's office decided not to pursue charges against him after reviewing findings from an SBI investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct. A woman reported the allegations to the Mebane Police Department last May.
In 2007, a Mebane man pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of trying to run over Hupman in his car. The driver was originally charged with felony assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill.
"I'm a thick-skinned son-of-a-gun," Hupman told a reporter recently.