Topeka ? Kansas Transportation Secretary Mike King said he has paid an income tax bill of more than $250,000 after the IRS filed a tax lien against him last month.

King told The Wichita Eagle that the amount was the balance of personal income tax that he and his wife owed from the sale of his construction company King Enterprises Group in 2012. It was a family construction business based in central Kansas that King, a Hesston native, owned for more than 20 years.

He said he had been making payments on the debt and was surprised by the lien, adding that he did not know why the IRS filed it. The original amount of taxes owed from the sale was more than $400,000, he said.

“But payment has been made in full now,” King said. “Hopefully, you can see past making this too big, which it isn’t.”

An IRS spokesman said the agency cannot comment on specific cases.

The federal tax agency filed the lien in Aug. 21 for personal income taxes owed, and it was recorded by the Shawnee County’s register of deeds office on Sept. 2.

According to county records, the register of deeds was notified about it because the Kings own a home in Shawnee County valued at $289,840.

In the lien notice, the IRS stated, “We have made a demand for payment of this liability, but it remains unpaid.”

The lien was for King’s property and “additional penalties, interests, and costs that may accrue.”

King’s salary last year was $110,000, according to a Kansas Department of Transportation spokeswoman.

In July 2013, he became director of the Kansas Turnpike Authority after a reorganization of the state’s toll road. Last month, he was elected to a one-year term as president of the Mid America Association of State Transportation Officials, a group that represents 10 states.