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Developer, county settle on delinquent tax payments, infrastructure requirements
By CAROLINE CURRAN Brunswick County officials and developer Mark Saunders have reached an agreement on delinquent taxes and infrastructure performance guarantees. Brunswick County Revenue Collector Ken Perry said an agreement between the tax office and Saunders has been reached for the payment of Saunders more than $1 million in delinquent property taxes. ŵhe amount due is the same, Perry explained, ÅÂnd it continues to accrue interest. He agreed to make regular monthly payments for one year. Saunders and Perry agreed to a $50,000 per month payment from June 2009 until June 2010, Perry said. In June 2010, Saunders will be required to pay the remainder of the balance due, but Perry said, since the amount due is still accruing interest, he would not know what the final payment would be until next June. Taxes due on any tracts of land or individual parcels sold between now and June 2010 would be paid in addition to the monthly payments. Perry and Saunders agreed to the payments June 22, and Perry said the tax office received the first $50,000 monthly payment ÅØithin a matter of a couple of days. On May 19, Perry attached one of Saunders bank accounts for $125,847. Perry said as long as Saunders sticks to his $50,000-per-month payments, he would not attach any bank accounts or garnish wagesÍÕwo options available to Perry per general statute. Perry said for any county resident with delinquent property taxes who has set up a payment plan with the county tax office, Ÿe donÃÕ garnish and we donÃÕ attach. Å©e gets the same deal. Saunders is CEO of The Coastal Companies. Debra Boodro, spokesperson for The Coastal Companies, released the following statement about the agreement with the county. ŵhe county and Coastal have reached a separate agreement on property taxes that allows time to resolve the outstanding matter of the Oak Island water line encroaching on valuable waterfront property owned by Coastal. In a previous statement released to the Beacon, Saunders claimed a water line that provides water for Oak Island was installed by the county across from property owned by Saunders ÅØithout our permission, compensation or any type of recorded easement. Infrastructure performance guarantees After a closed session during Monday nightÃÔ county commissioners meeting, commissioners agreed to extend 13 completion dates for infrastructure completion for several of Saunders communities, including SeaWatch, Ocean Ridge Plantation, Ocean Isle Palms and Ibis Bay. ŵhere were two phases that did not have bonds, they will have bonds, Marshall explained. ŵhere are three phases that had bonds, but the guarantee agreement expired. We are going to renew it and change the completion dates. Rather than give Saunders one completion date for all infrastructure completions, Marshall said commissioners extended Saunders 13 completion dates, ranging from June 2010 until March 2012. For the infrastructure completion dates in 2011 and 2012, the county will conduct an annual review of the work being completed. As a stipulation of the agreement, Saunders cannot sell any of the lots or parcels until the infrastructure is complete or bonded. County commissioners OKÃÅ a 30-day extension for Saunders to complete the required infrastructure improvements on May 27. With the decision, commissioners essentially extended a previous board action, when they declared several of Saunders developments performance guarantees in default. The performance guarantees, required by the county and signed by the developer, are required for the completion of certain infrastructure such as roads, water supply, curbs, gutters, sewer supply and stormwater requirements. Å¢s anticipated, once Brunswick County received accurate information from The Coastal Companies about the status of infrastructure work in our communities and recognized CoastalÃÔ commitment and ability to complete the development work in all neighborhoods, the county reconsidered its position and determined that it would not be necessary to take further action, BoodroÃÔ statement explained. The Brunswick Beacon www.brunswickbeacon.com Copyright 2009. All rights reserved. Brunswick Beacon is a Landmark Community Newspapers, Inc. publication.
Date Posted: July 9, 2009