The Internal Revenue Service has filed a lien against a company owned by state Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers and U.S. Rep. Tom Graves.
Filed in the Gordon County Superior Court on Monday, the lien is targeting Tich Properties LLC for $1,498. Both Republicans, Rogers and Graves are members of that company.
Rogers said the company’s taxes are current and the lien is a penalty for not filing W-2 forms with the federal government for one quarter of 2007. Rogers, however, disputed the lien, saying his company has filed all of its required paperwork. His accountant hand-delivered tax records to the federal government Friday and paid the lien to resolve the matter, with the expectation that the money would be returned.
“Our accountant has documents showing all paperwork has been filed properly,” Rogers said Friday. “Apparently, the Social Security Administration asked our payroll people back in 2008 to resubmit the W-2 paperwork, and they did. We heard nothing else until now. ... Late yesterday, our accountant resubmitted, for a third time, the W-2 information they are seeking from 2007.”
Graves issued a prepared statement Friday, saying: "The important thing is at no time were any taxes unpaid. It's a simple misunderstanding about filed documents, which we have now refiled for the third time. We expect the matter to be fully resolved today."
On Nov. 29, the city of Calhoun filed a $15,394 lien for unpaid taxes, penalties and interest against a company created by Tich Properties called Tich Hospitality LLC. Rogers and Graves have said they transferred ownership of Tich Hospitality -- along with a motel in Calhoun called the Oglethorpe Inn -- to John Edens in November 2009.
Edens, who confirmed he owns the inn and Tich Hospitality, said in an e-mail to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Friday that "an appeal of property value was filed and the assessor did not respond as required. I notified the city that the property tax bill is in error and asked their help in getting it corrected. I have also requested a payment plan so I can get the proper amount paid off as quickly as possible."
Edens has had a checkered past with money. He filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2004 and has been the target of numerous judgments and liens, including some from other state and local tax collectors, court records show.
Gordon County Chief Appraiser Ashley O'Donald said the county reduced the taxable value of the inn by about $11,000 in January based on an appeal Rogers filed. That appeal is dated Sept. 8, 2009. O'Donald said the county sent records reflecting the adjustment in January to the address it had on file. Misty Caudle, the city's tax clerk, said the county's taxable value reduction is reflected in the city's tax lien.
Meanwhile, a lawsuit connected to the Calhoun inn is still pending in court.
The Bartow County Bank is suing Rogers and Graves, alleging the two owe the bank $2.2 million for a business loan that is now in default. Rogers and Graves, who took the loan out to buy and renovate the Oglethorpe Inn, deny they owe the money because Edens now owns the inn and the company that originally took out the loan, Tich Hospitality.
“We have been working with them to come to an agreement. We have made offers and counteroffers and offers and counteroffers,” Rogers said Thursday about the bank. “We have not come to an exact agreement, but I would say we are very close.”
Edward Hine, the bank's attorney, chuckled when the AJC told him Rogers had indicated some progress was being made in the case.
“I don’t think so,” Hine said Friday. “We've still got a lawsuit.”
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