Reprieve for J.L. Reservations
The Mono County Board of Supervisors has given Lynda Thompson and June Lake Reservations, LLC more time to pay back unpaid Transient Occupancy Tax. The amount of TOT Thompson owed as of July 1 was $48,163.19, but the Board said it would work with her and waive the penalties from June, lowering the amount owed to $46,278.11.
The Board is also allowing Thompson an extra week to make sure her check clears. Thompson had a check for the full amount on the day of the second public hearing held July 7, but said she needed additional days to process reservations and put that money into her account to cover the check. If the check clears, the suspension of business license will be lifted and her TOT license re-issued.
Thompson said she has heard many rumors since the last public hearing on her TOT issue in May. Thompson said she heard the County has a secret list of companies of businesses the County may not want to support. Supervisor Chair Tim Fesko said there is no secret list, but if there are other delinquent businesses, they are assuredly on a list. Thompson said to “single out” her business is embarrassing to the entire community and it effects everybody in town.
Fesko answered that he is also an innkeeper, and has been for 18 years, and that he understands that it is a sad that her situation has become a public matter and it has taken three years for the matter to come to this point. He added it was equally sad that Thompson is having to use the TOT that belongs to the County and its residents to keep her own business afloat. Supervisor Stacy Corless said she hoped there would be a way the County could help innkeepers from getting this far behind in the future.
“Sorry for the embarrassment,” Supervisor Tim Alpers told Thompson, but added that it was possibly the embarrassment that shocked her into paying the TOT owed. He added that TOT is serious business and is not to be taken lightly, and that the public needs to be aware of the severity of the situation. He said today the Board was sending a message, “drawing a line,” that TOT taxes will be paid or there will be serious consequences.
Corless said that while the Board is giving Thompson some leeway in letting her pay and even waiving the penalties for July, County staff has spent a significant amount of time and resources on the Thompson case and was hoping for reassurance that staff will not have to spend so much in the future. However, future defaults cannot be predicted.
Fesko wished Thompson the best with her future endeavors.
