MARIETTA - Three days after he was defeated at the polls for a seat on the Cobb school board, Bill Borden finally purchased Georgia tags for his vehicles and paid most of his back taxes owed.

"He has shiny new Georgia tags," said Stewart Manley, director of tag/title operations for the Cobb Tax Commissioner's office.

Tax Commissioner Gail Downing said Monday that Borden has paid $2,526.53 to date and continues to owe $705.77, for a total of $3,332.30.

The commissioner's office had set a Monday deadline for Borden and his wife, Brenda, to title and register their vehicles in Cobb or the county would file a tax lien in Superior Court.

Borden drives a Ford pickup that was registered in the state of Alaska, where he completed the Iditarod sled-dog race in 2002. He and his wife also drive locally a Toyota sport utility vehicle that was also registered in Alaska.

Borden was fined for back taxes on both vehicles.

"We were allowed to go back seven years by law, so of course we did," Manley said.

The tag violations came to light following a June 30 article by the Journal. Under Georgia law, residents must register their vehicles in Georgia within 30 days after establishing residence in the state.

Borden didn't just have trouble with his tags. He also admitted that he operated a business, Real Estate Central Inc., out of his home without a business license for about 15 years, before relocating it in the city of Kennesaw in early July. On July 2, Real Estate Central, a sales agency, received a business license issued by the city of Kennesaw.

Despite these irregularities, Borden was strongly backed in the Republican primary by Acworth Mayor Tommy Allegood and Kennesaw Mayor Mark Mathews. But the support of the two mayors' wasn't enough to elect him. Borden was defeated in last week's primary, garnering 2,734 votes, or 39.9 percent of ballots cast, compared with Kathleen Angelucci's 60 percent, or 4,110 votes.

The Bordens receive the homestead exemption on their home in unincorporated Cobb. That exemption is only available on an individual's primary residence, and Bill Borden has said they have owned and lived in the house for 17 years. On June 30, the tax office sent a first letter to the Bordens regarding the car tags and threatened to cancel the couple's homestead exemption "if the matter is not resolved promptly."

Manley said his office next sent a letter to the Bordens on July 7 identifying the amounts due for the two vehicles. Fees for one vehicle go back six years, and seven years on the other. A third letter, dated July 14, corrected a dollar amount stated in the July 7 letter, Manley said.

Manley said his office encourages citizens to report suspected violators anonymously by calling (770) 528-TAGS.