MASON CITY – The owner of Southbridge Mall allegedly paid overdue taxes today to avert a sale of the property.
According to Cerro Gordo County Treasurer Patricia J. Wright, the Cerro Gordo County Treasurer’s Office received payment in full of the real estate taxes and interest owed by Southbridge Mall Realty Holding, LLC for the delinquent real estate taxes and interest on the buildings and improvements known locally as
Southbridge Mall.
The payment was received by the agreed upon deadline and processed on December 6, 2018. The total amount paid was $150,254.00 which included fees and damages due on three dishonored checks.
“No check, guaranteed funds,” Treasurer Wright told NIT.
The current real estate taxes for Fiscal Year 2017-2018 payable Fiscal Year 2018-2019 are unpaid. In the event these current real estate taxes remain unpaid, the parcels will be listed on the annual tax sale in June 2019.
Best thing that can happen to this mall turn it into mall full of outlet stores.Inventory changes all the time keep returning/new customers coming back.People drive to this kind of shopping also.Example Nebraska Crossing between Lincoln and Omaha has alot of outlet stores always parking lot is full it seems and I don’t live there just the several times a year that drive by it busy.That might be an idea for our area.At least it wouldn’t sit empty.Medford also in MN.
The Medford Outlet is in as bad of shape as Southbridge. It too has one foot in the grave.
Even got Ms. Wrong playing games with the mall taxes to make things work ….why all the lies and deceit? Pretty obvious who’s zooming who!
What lies and deceiving has she done?
Taxes are paid! Oh wait….forgot to tell ya the checks bounced so there NOT PAID! Wait……….oh …..wait…..wait….the checks are NOW good and the money is there! Sorry I lied and didn’t tell you all right away! Really ???
Why has the “original” project CHANGED so many times? Definately NOT what the citizens expect or DESERVE! Easier to ripoff the fine citizens and taxpayers when you can’t keep shit straight!! Pretty fu#@ing easy to see why people are pissed about this clusterf**k.
What has changed about the project?!?! Seems to me it’s exactly the same
Probably should do your homework? How long has this shit been going on?
Educate us oh great one. The voters approved a measure to issue general obligation bonds for the purpose of constructing a multi purpose arena. What is now different from that?!?!
What exactly has changed about the project?
Ths original amount voted on that the hockey team had to come up with was 2 million, now its 500k up to 2 million, yet they would have the majority of its use. Thats the only thing I have seen that has changed.
Club, team, group. Hockey association.
It’s no wonder the city is in the state it’s in. All you people seem to do is bitch, cry and complain about everything!
If I remember correctly 90% of the city did not bother to vote on this issue but that same 90% have no problem complaining about the outcome!
How about you try a different approach, become active in your community, try stepping up to the plate becoming part of the solution instead of sitting on the sideline and complaining all the time!
Couldn’t agree more. The reason this city is so darn downtrodden and reeling from decades of de-population is the attitudes of its residents. So many here are just plain mean spirited and negative. Case and point: The conduct that occurs in our city council meetings is downright embarrassing. It’s no wonder Hyvee didn’t even bother considering us for their new distribution center they recently awarded to Austin – why would any successful company want to endure the slander and malice that is served up by our very vocal group of curmudgeon senior citizens that are hell bent on stopping all progress in its tracks
Maybe those senior citizens are just a lot smarter than you. And, they are probably sick and tired of being screwed over by the Chamber of Commerce and the lying City Council.
I doubt it!
You got that shit right!
You must be our fearless leader Robin or her loyal peasants Slick Willie, little John,or maybe Ms. Wrong? You know who you are with the fat bank accounts ….thanks to the taxpayers of M.C.
Always looking and talking down to the majority!
You seem very content to just sit on the sidelines and complain instead of growing a pair, stepping up to the plate and becoming part of the solution
So are you. All you do is shoot off your big mouth about people who are better than you will ever be.
Hahahahaha
By the way, I am not laughing with you I am laughing at you
Hahahahaha
The solution is easy. Stop all this madness! You want shit built? Build it yourself with YOUR bank account so when it fails YOU LOSE and leave the taxpayers alone and stop putting the $$$ burden on the taxpayers. You all want…..but you want everybody else to back it up.
What is this a solution to? All I know is this town needs to start growing again. That won’t happen by just sitting on our hands hoping something falls in our lap. We’re going to have to start make my investments in this community to Change the trajectory we’re on now.
Tax burden and population growth do not have the relationship you are inferring. Many of The fastest growing areas of this country have exorbitantly high tax burdens (California, Chicagoland, New York City). Even in our own state, Des Moines grows at a healthy clip despite having tax levies easily double that of Mason City. All these places grow because they are progressive and have amenities which are attractive to spur development.
Isn’t the treasurer a democrat?
Most people we talked with at the BB game last night are going to boycott the entire project if built. Hotels in the area are going to low ball them out of business(any new hotel build). This is going to be laid on the feet of our city council and the mall/downtown businesses that had vote YES signs up, yes we know who you are………
The hotel is private investment. If it goes out of business, so what? That’s a risk to the private developer. Why do you think the taxpayer bears any risk to private investment??? If a Subway goes out of business, do your taxes go up???
Not that it matters, but most people select hotels on more than just price. Loyalty programs are the BIGGEST determining factor in hotel selection followed by location, then amenities. So your low balling strategy is unlikely to to affect the success of a hotel.
Anonymous, regarding the hotel, you ask “Why do you think the taxpayer bears any risk to private investment???” Short answer: The hotel room rent is tied into paying off the $18.1 million in city bonds the City Council has approved to pay for this project. You see, the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA)will refund 5 cents from each dollar of hotel/motel sales tax based upon the total number of hotel rooms sold on a quarterly basis. The state collects the sales tax, puts it into an account, and then refunds it to the City. The City will then use the rebated money to pay off the bonds. Make sense??
Good answer. There is no lump sum check sent to the City from the State for ~ $10 million. That was all a big fat lie spread around by the disappearing YES gaggle. That hotel better be booked solid every night for the next 20 years if the taxpayers ever hope to sniff those dollars. Of course by then, no one will remember (or care) who got the town into the mess it has already slipped into (see Southbridge, 1984 to present for a history lesson).
The hotel goes out of business, little or no state tax collected in the downtown district, and therefore, no more meager checks sent to the City from the State to inch toward that ~ $10 million pipe dream. You do understand this, but you voted yes, so facts might be contrary to your reasoning. The taxpayers bear huge risk if the hotel closes after it opens.
So the city gets to direct all the sales and hotel tax from the downtown district towards quality of life enhancing projects which will strengthen our city?!?! That’s an amazing deal!!! Glad we live somewhere that realizes how important projects like this are towards the vitality of a city !
The downtown Reinvestment District is tiny. A few square blocks only. And only new development within those few blocks can send their meager State tax collections into the pot that MC gets back drip by drip over 20 years – the Hotel being the chief new development there. Don’t be foolish, you know this – you just don’t want taxpayers to realize it.
^^
NIT Publisher December 9, 2018 at 10:45 am
Not like you mooching $30,000 dollars of MC taxpayers money.
Lame, but keep going if you want. Go talk to the millionaires in town who participated in that program – that I had nothing to do with creating. I just play by the rules laid out there.
We get to keep sales and hotel taxes from the state for 20 years?!?! That sure seems like a absolutely amazing deal. Glad we have leaders that are trying to do something to make this a better place to live with great state programs like this!
About as amazing as robbing the can bag from a homeless person. You can’t keep what ain’t there. Let’s pray to Jesus this hotel is packed every single night – if it is ever built, that is.
You appear to have absolutely no business sense. Golly Gee, I wonder why we can’t get people to move here? Maybe just maybe the tax burden they are placing on both current and any possible future residents is not even being considered. Not to mention all the dirty underhanded business deals that appear to be happening left and right in Mason City. The new hotel and ice rink will save downstown Mason City… Give us all a freakin break.
Talk about no business sense! People like you want to keep pouring money into the dead and dying downtown area. You people killed it years ago when you pushed through that worthless mall and killed the downtown. It will never come back until it is opened up and that will never happen. Spend your own damn money, not the taxpayers.
Seems to Me that someone with business sense would absolutely take advantage of state programs to leverage $10M in funds for a project. I applaud city leaders for finding creative ways to pay for a city amenity that the overwhelming majority of the voting public indicated they wanted.
Overwhelming majority, Hahaha!!!! Ah no, it was strategic (underhanded) planning to open up a polling place at Mercy. A good majority of Mason City (MC) citizens didnt even vote. In fact, in my opinion, there is absolutely no reason to vote now regarding anything MC with having a polling place directly at Mercy. Mercy has control over all the local issues now. They are currently the largest employer in MC. The current leadership is stopping MC from growing. Citizens can easily see that only a few people in MC are making all the decisions. Dirty deeds, indeed.
City leadership is preventing Main City from growing??? Really??? Was it city leadership that said no to Prestage? Was it city leadership that said no to the casino?? Was it city leadership that said no to Target Distribution??? You may want to think a little more analytically to really figure out why this city doesn’t grow.
what happen to the funds we paid g8 originally? like 150k
Check your fearless leaders bank accounts!
Yes the PASS DUE was brought up BUT taxes are still owed. This whole thing smells. The voted proposal truly no longer exists, this is a fragment of a fragment, MC Hockey is the only beneficiary.
The taxpayers overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure to issue general obligation bonds to construct a multi purpose arena. Absolutely nothing has changed with what the voters approved.
Thanks for the reminder and the reality check. You have to keep in mind that this after all is NIT, and many readers, all ginned up by Markquart still want to relitigate this settled issue.
Oh no put the mall up for a tax sale. Who the hell would even buy the thing?
Bend over and spread ’em people and taxpayers of M.C.! Robin, Slick Willie, Honest John,loyal peasants, Aaron and peppermint Patty, and their loyal thieves are getting you all ready for your colonoscopy!!!! They are going to clean you out really good when it’s all said and done.Then they will all disappear as all the rest have, with money in hand and a larger friggin mess to be cleaned up!!!
That was a close one, would hate to see the project fail because the big players are all broke and crooks. I was for the arena in the beginning, but not any more. Maybe we could call it the Prestage Arena.
The transaction is not complete until the check clears the bank! Earlier reported amount was $177K+change, now $150K+. Will it take a month and half to report the bad checks this time? Oh that’s right, election is over!
Haven’t we heard this before?
I bet the citty secretly paid his taxes to keep it’s unwanted project going. I don’t trust ANY of them!!!
I wouldn’t doubt it either. I think things were forgiven/written off by the city. “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap”
Yep, and we faked the moon landing too.
Care to further clarify the “No checks, guaranteed funds” remark made by crooked Wright? Thank you, ——-NEXT!
Hahahahaha
Next
Hahahahaha
With another bad check.
Haha! It appears Wright would.
She is a crook. If she has the ability to hide that amount of money from us imagine what else she is hiding.
Treasurer Wright has allegedly mislead the good people of Mason City by not disclosing that the check bounced before the elections. She appears to be very incompetent as a business person and should resign from her post. No one can be that stupid in not making sure any large size checks actually cleared before bragging and dismissing the grievance. And, once it was clear that the checks were bad, she appears to have hid this grave error from the public all for self promoting. Very deceptive indeed. In my opinion, very poor leadership.
Give it up, she won the election, definitely better then the other option.
No, she’s NOT!
The voters have spoken!
https://youtu.be/JP_EaFfrA1g
I highly doubt if she shared this before the election she would have been re-elected. Integrity appears very lacking. Something smells very dirty within in the court house and the city council.
“Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” by ACDC comes to mind
Great song.
But she is hot looking.
Your eyesight is comparable to Helen Kellar and Stevie Wonder combined if you belive that!!!