Twenty-two Ketchum businesses will no longer be allowed to operate unless they pay local-option tax receipts they owe the city within 10 days.
After that time, a Ketchum police officer will hand notices to the remaining delinquent business owners informing them that their LOT permits are being revoked, according to Ketchum Office Assistant Kathleen Schwartzenberger.
LOT permits are required for all Ketchum businesses, which are supposed to pass the tax dollars on to the city every month. But, according to city records, 22 have withheld receipts taken in during November and December.
If these businesses pay the taxes owed, they'll keep their permits. Of an initial list of 26 delinquent businesses compiled in mid-February, four have done that, but, as of Tuesday, March 2, that wasn't true for the remaining 22.
LOT—commonly called the "tourist tax"—is a 2 percent sales tax on lodging and by-the-glass liquor sales, and a 1 percent tax on retail sales and building materials. The city uses the money for city services and upkeep of infrastructure, such as streets, that see more use because of visitors.
If these 22 businesses don't pay the owed LOT, they won't be allowed to continue operations. If they ignore that, they could be fined $300 for every month their doors remain open.
The Ketchum City Council unanimously voted to revoke these licenses at Monday's meeting if the businesses don't pay up. And the decision came without a word of discussion. That's because November isn't the first month businesses have been delinquent on LOT. And the council vowed at a Feb. 1 meeting to not stand for businesses keeping city dollars.
<
"It's not their money," Councilman Baird Gourlay said at that meeting.
On Feb. 1, City Clerk Sandra Cady informed the council that 15 businesses were delinquent in turning over LOT receipts. In some cases, she said, they hadn't paid for more than a year, and had ignored the city's repeated requests.
"This is not their money," said Cady, who's in charge of collecting the taxes. "It's the city's. They're collecting it for us."
City Attorney Stephanie Bonney said the city had been "lax" on this and needed to step up enforcement. Council members said that's exactly what they intended to do.
And, now, they are sticking to their guns by adhering to the process of revoking permits. Bonney said a business that doesn't pay the back taxes it owes could have a lien placed on the property for the amount owed. However, that would not obtain the city's money until the properties were sold.
Cady said the city was lenient in light of a troublesome series of events—the 2007 Castle Rock Fire and the recession—putting businesses at risk. But, she said, some businesses took a mile with the inch they were given. The time of leniency has come to an end.
Trevon Milliard: tmilliard@mtexpress.com
Delinquent businesses
As of 3 p.m. March 2, the city will revoke LOT tax permits of the following businesses for failure to pay sales taxes:
· Alee Marsters— Touch of Class
· Bistro 44
· Diane James Interior Design
· Gordon Webster Pottery
· Kenneth E. Corrock Builders
· Ketchum Coffee Grinder
· Northwood Way Hemp
· Penelope's
· Popular Finance
· Premier Construction
· RC Properties
· Saddletree Framing
· Soft Choice Corp.
· Source One Distribution
· Steve Eich
· Stoeklein Publishing & Photo
· Sun Valley Distinctive Properties
· Sun Valley Outfitters
· Sun Valley Performing Arts
· The Club at Bigwood
· Three Monkeys
· Your Dirty Dog
