The Arcata City Council will look at introducing an ordinance Wednesday that would give the city more options to collect delinquent taxes from hotels. Arcata collects a 10 percent transient occupancy tax on all hotel guests staying within the
Joining the tea party [Daily Triplicate]
Hundreds turn out in Crescent City, waving flags, signs
A sea of tea party-goers congregated at U.S. Highway 101 and Front
Street on Thursday, waving flags and signs, including one that said,
“Stop bleeding off our children’s future.”
One of the organizers, Mary Wilson, estimated more than 300 people showed up throughout the day.
It was the local version of tea parties held throughout the country on the day U.S. income taxes were due.
Awash in red, white and blue and an assortment of stars and stripes, protesters descended on the Humboldt County Courthouse Thursday to decry big government, wasteful spending and — the subject of the day — taxes.
About property taxes and the art of parallel parking [Daily Triplicate]
Being a native Californian— second generation on my mother’s side—out of loyalty I tend not to be too vocally critical of the Golden State. I’ve kept my disgruntlement with the timing of our property tax due dates mostly under my breath until now. But when this April 10th approached, I couldn’t control the urge to complain to anyone who’d listen. Why are our taxes due right before Income Tax Day and then again December 10? Boy, the folks who picked those dates must have been real Scrooges.
Humboldt Tea Party Patriots plan to make tax day a tea party. April 15 is the last day taxpayers can pay their state and federal income taxes, and the local Tea Party group plans to gather at the county courthouse on 5th Street at 11:30 a.
All those last-minute tax filers will receive no reprieve this year from the Eureka Main Post Office. The U.S. Postal Service announced Thursday that, with more Americans filing their taxes online, most post offices will be open regular
The Eureka City Council began looking at new ways to increase the city’s revenues Tuesday to help fill its budget deficit, including increased and new taxes.
Oh and Bon Bon–a quick thought, if we may: When conducting super-stealthy push polls, it’s generally a good idea to avoid polling members of the opposition’s campaign team.
SUSANVILLE – The development agreement is signed and the fees are paid, but local officials and investors remain skeptical that a controversial four-season resort planned for Dyer Mountain ever will deliver the jobs and economic boon it promised.
California Mortgage and Realty Inc., a San Francisco-based financial company that has assumed ownership of the project, is mired in a dysfunctional real estate market that has contributed to the troubled history of what local opponents have dubbed “Dyergate.” A decade after Lassen County voters approved zoning to allow the development, no buildings have been erected, and none is in sight.
“Dyer is never going to come to fruition,” said Lassen County Supervisor Jim Chapman.
Officials at CMR declined to comment.
Dyer Management, a limited liability company created by the financial firm, is the third owner of the development, planned as a destination resort with ski facilities, three golf courses, 600,000 square feet of commercial space and more than 4,000 residential units.
Dyer Mountain Associates, the original owners, bought the timber-covered slopes near Westwood after Lassen County voters passed the 2000 ballot measure allowing project-friendly zoning.
CMR initiated foreclosure proceedings early in 2008 to collect some of the $30 million it lent to Dyer Mountain Associates. Four foreclosure sales scheduled for the Lassen County courthouse steps were canceled after negotiations resumed between the borrower and the lender, only to break down later.
In March 2008, Dyer Mountain Associates filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy code. That launched a succession of new owners with confusingly similar names created by CMR, which has a variety of funds with equally confusing names.
The second owner of the Lassen County project, Dyer Holdings, seized control of the property in September 2008. Six months later, the ownership was transferred to Dyer Management, also created and managed by CMR.
The following day, March 31, 2009, the CMR fund managing Dyer Holdings filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Since then all three funds managed by CMR – all with “CMR” in their names – have filed for bankruptcy protection. The bankruptcies contributed to a string of unpaid taxes on properties owned by CMR and its president, H. David Choo, including $1.2 million in Lassen County.
As recently as last month, the California Franchise Tax Board listed Choo among the state’s largest debtors, with an outstanding balance of nearly $1.4 million. He has paid that, according to state records.
Choo declined to discuss any of CMR’s financial dealings. “We don’t talk to the press,” he said.
The unpaid Lassen County taxes are a red flag for Chapman, the senior member of the county Board of Supervisors. “If you’ve got the wherewithal for a multimillion-dollar development, paying back taxes shouldn’t be a problem,” he said.
CMR has met its other financial responsibilities to Lassen County. In December, Michael Choo, a relative of David Choo, appeared before the Board of Supervisors representing the Dyer project company owner. He told the supervisors that the company plans to pursue the resort and signed the development agreement that the supervisors originally adopted with the first owners in 2007.
But for Chapman and anxious investors, that wasn’t enough to restore confidence in the Dyer Mountain project. They cite CMR’s difficulties with the state Department of Corporations, which revoked the license of one of CMR’s funds for failing to inform new investors “that there was a substantial probability they would not be able to successfully redeem their investments in 2008, should they opt to do so.”
David Choo also was cited in 2000 by Oakland city officials, who declared his Oak Park Apartment building a “substandard public nuisance.” He landed on the city’s “Dirty Dozen” list of landlords, and tenants of the building sued him and won a nearly $1 million settlement.
Many economic forecasters are optimistic that the real estate market will rebound.
The next test in Lassen County is a $50,000 payment to the litigation security fund due in April, said Lassen County Counsel Craig Settlemire.
Nearly two years of unpaid TOT has built up to $108,000. What’s more, Days Inn is delinquent in over $22.776.62 in unpaid water bills. Considering Arcata’s annual TOT take is some $900,000, the outstanding $130,000 is a major chunk of City revenue.
And what about Virginia Bass? The Republican-turned-Democrat mayor of Eureka is challenging Neely for her supervisor seat. The local GOP must be crushed with no good loyal candidates in the race.
Owners of the Chalk Mountain Ranch in Bridgeville granted a forest conservation easement on a 3,200-acre working ranch to Cal Fire earlier this month. The easement will have no effect on property taxes.
April 15 is not that far away; it’s already the time of year (again) to prepare your taxes. Get your tax filing in order with the help of AARP’s volunteer tax preparers and the Humboldt Senior Resource Center.
Thanks to Eureka City Manager Dave Tyson for sending the draft medical marijuana ordinance for the City of Eureka. A workshop will be held at the Wharfinger on Jan. 26 @7pm to receive public comment on the draft.
For the first time in more than 30 years, property taxes will decrease, which means less money for county funds and services unless the real estate market picks up, officials say.
