By CHARLES RICHARDS
EParisExtra!
The La Quinta hotel property in Paris has been foreclosed on, city finance director Gene Anderson informed the Paris City Council on Monday.
The council meeting was only minutes old when District 5 councilman Matt Frierson asked for an update on the portion of Anderson’s monthly financial report pertaining to hotel occupancy taxes.
“What we’ve learned since we actually prepared this report is that the owner of the La Quinta has had that property foreclosed on him and it has been taken over by some other people,” Anderson said.
He said city attorney Kent McIlyar “has been in communication with them, making sure they’re aware of the liability they incurred as included in the financial report.
Anderson’s financial report to the council for August showed La Quinta as the only hotel in the city not current on its hotel occupancy taxes.
The report showed La Quinta delinquent for three of the four quarters in 2011, and was now delinquent for the second quarter of 2012, which ended June 30.
“I’m going to check the records with the state of Texas, because they have to report to the state as well,” Anderson said. “From that, we hope to be able to estimate what they owe, and that will be forwarded to the new owners and we’ll try to collect from them,” Anderson said.
McIlyar said Celtic Bank of Salt Lake City foreclosed on a loan it made to the prior ownership group, “and they are in possession. Now they’ve got this Hospitality Group out of Dallas managing the property for them. We’ve sent demand this week — updated demands on what is owed to the city.”
“They‘ve been informed by certified letter and told it‘s money owed already, that they‘re already in delinquency,” McIlyar said.
“I‘ve spoken to one of their people out of Dallas. There are a lot of unpaid bills. They‘re wading through it all,” he said.
McIlyar said he’s been in communications with the group to make sure it is aware of the liability it incurred, a total of about $28,000 in past-due quarterly hotel allocation taxes, plus whatever is owed for the quarter that ended July 31, 2012.
Asked how much the city is owed, McIlyer said about $28,000 plus the amount due for the second quarter of 2012.
Anderson said he and McIlyer met in February with the hotel owner, who they said promised to pay $3,000 a month until he caught up with his delinquency.
He made the first five of 15 monthly installments but missed its sixth $3,000 payment that was due on Aug. 15, Anderson said..
Anderson said La Quinta was Paris’ only hotel not current on its quarterly occupancy taxes, and occupany taxes are up 9.91 percent above last year.
“What is the likelihood they ever catch up? I guess we‘re somewhere in line now,” Frierson said.
“Well, if they foreclosed on the property, I’m no attorney, but you’d think they not only would assume the assets but the debt,” Anderson said.
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Charles Richards Charles Richards moved to Paris in 2004 after retiring from a 40-year career in journalism – the last 26 years as a news writer and sports writer with The Associated Press in Dallas and Washington, D.C. In mid-2004, The Paris News coaxed him out of retirement, and he began covering the police, court and regional beat for The Paris News. Then in early 2005, he was switched to coverage of a sharply divided Paris City Council. He was appointed by the City Council in 2006 to the 12-member City Charter Review Commission, which extensively rewrote the outmoded document. His writing awards include two first-place awards in statewide competition for feature writing. The most recent was his 2005 story on a Paris doctor’s startling use of leeches in a successful attempt to re-attach a man’s severed ear. Over his career, Richards’ interview subjects include Alabama Gov. George Wallace, President Bill Clinton, President George W. Bush, David Koresh, Arnold Palmer, Muhammad Ali and numerous other political and sports figures. He is an alumnus of Texas Tech, where he was editor of the school newspaper. He lives in Paris with his wife, Barbara, who is retired after 30 years as a teacher and high school counselor.
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