From the Lafayette Journal & Courier:
White County businesses and residents are hoping that attempts to bolster the area’s economic lifeblood — the tourism industry — won’t stall in the wake of a large outstanding bill.
Officials discovered recently that Monticello’s most popular recreational attraction owes the county hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid taxes.
Indiana Beach Amusement Resort, the longtime Monticello recreation spot on Lake Shafer, owes White County an estimated $347,000 in combined property and innkeeper’s taxes, according to the county’s tourism authority and treasurer.
Indiana Beach has neglected to pay an estimated $180,000 in innkeeper’s taxes, which partly go toward promoting the area’s tourism industry, and about $167,000 in 2011 property taxes.
And the financial health of its parent company, Morgan RV Resorts, has been called into question.
Morgan RV Resorts recently agreed to sell 11 of its RV communities to Sun Communities Operating Limited Partnership LLC of Michigan for $135 million. Since the deal hasn’t been finalized, it is unclear whether Morgan’s assets in Monticello are part of the agreement. The company did not return numerous calls and messages from the Journal & Courier.
Major discrepancies in the county’s books tipped off officials to the delinquent Indiana Beach tax bills from the past few years, said Joe Crivello, a board member of the White County Tourism Authority.
Indiana Beach collected $64,327 in innkeeper’s taxes in five months during 2009, according to the tourism authority, compared with $55,700 in collections during all of 2012. During several peak months from 2009 to 2012, the resort collected nothing.
The innkeeper’s tax is self-reported; counties have limited powers to enforce collection. It was increased in White County to 5 percent in 2011 and goes to maintaining the area’s lakes and, now, to promoting tourism. The extra tax was initially expected to generate between $80,000 and $100,000 annually.
White County leaders are taking action to collect money they believe Indiana Beach owes. Crivello said the county also is weighing how to pursue smaller private resort entities that may not be paying as much as they owe.
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See the full article here:
http://www.jconline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013301190038&nclick_check=1
