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County denies requests for tax abatement

By
Mavis Fodness

Rock County Commissioners on June 2 unanimously declined to forgive penalties and late fees assessed to the Econo Lodge and Super 8 by Wyndham hotels in Luverne.
In an email to auditor-treasurer Ashley Kurtz, Ash Patel, an agent with SARP, LLC in Sioux Falls, asked for the $8,866 to be forgiven.
Patel stated the reason for the non-payment was “due to the economy downturn in 2019-2020.”
No tax payments were made in 2019 or for the first half of 2020 on either property.
With penalties, SARP owes $69,172. An additional $20,014 is due by Oct. 15.
“I will start making some payments every month to get paid in full within six to eight months,” Patel wrote.
During discussions about Patel’s request, commissioners agreed they do not take the role of a banker.
They said individuals and business owners should make loan arrangements with a financial institution prior to the annual property tax deadlines of May 15 and Oct. 15 in order to avoid late payment penalties.
The commissioners have denied all but one abatement request. The one instance involved a late payment that was postmarked prior to the tax due date.
“This makes it easy every time these things come up because we just don’t do them,” said Commissioner Stan Williamson.
The June 2 meeting was the first in-person meeting for the commissioners since March due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Commissioners went into closed session to discuss two pending lawsuits involving the sheriff’s office and one by SARP, LLC, filed in Minnesota Tax Court from SARP, who is appealing the assessor’s market valuations on the Econo Lodge on south Highway 75.
The county set the Econo Lodge valuation at $928,900 with annual property taxes of $26,946.
According to assessor Tom Houselog, the county had one other tax court case filed against the county more than a decade ago involving the valuation of the Gold ‘N Plump processing plant west of Luverne.
The administrative court judge dismissed the case.

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