MORGANTOWN – After years of frustration over unpaid hotel/motel taxes by the former owners of the Ramada Inn near Morgantown, Monongalia County officials have received the final payment of more than $120,000 in back taxes owed to the county.
“I am ecstatic. I never thought it was going to happen,” said Monongalia County Commissioner Tom Bloom in a message to WAJR News.
The final check, dated Dec. 26, 2019 in the amount of $67,138.54, pays off the outstanding tax debt and brings an end to a saga that started back in 2015.
“We as a County Commission want to make it clear that we will continue to fight for every tax dollar that is owed to our County,” emphasized Bloom.
The problem first came to the county commission’s attention in December 2015 when records showed the owners of the Ramada Inn had not paid hotel/motel taxes to the county for more than a year. The six percent fee charged to guests had already been collected by the hotel but the taxes were not being sent on to the county to fund the Greater Morgantown Convention and Visitors Bureau.
In August 2016, the owners of the hotel, entered into an agreement with the county to pay back the taxes owed as well as seven percent interest on the debt. However, the county still did not receive payment and filed a lawsuit over the back taxes in August 2017.
The lawsuit named the former owners of the property, D&M Investments, Inc. Alan B. Mollohan, Robert Holt Mollohan and Kathryn Nelson, and alleged the defendants had not adhered to the agreement and paid off the tax bill.
Ultimately, the property was sold in to the Hazel Ruby McQuain Charitable Trust.