After discovering more than $10,000 in unpaid taxes, The Center has worked out a deal with the IRS that resolves a lien placed on the property.
Randy Stephens, executive director of The Center, said staff discovered a year of unpaid payroll taxes which created the issue.
“All of this came about from the audit we had done, and that's when we found out taxes had not been paid in 2009,” Stephens said. “[The IRS] found about it from us instead of the other way around.”
Stephens said the error was limited to that single year, before he came on board with The Center in 2010.
“It's one of those things that happened in the past and we have to deal with it and not concern ourselves with who to blame,” Stephens said.
The Center's treasurer, Will Perry, said the exact total owed is $10,618.20 and that amount includes all penalties.
“We have a payment arrangement and set up a special bank account to pay the IRS $500 a month until it's paid off,” he said. “We're working through it and we'd love donations.”
Stephens said if the organization misses a payment, the lien will attach again. Perry said it's a big deal but not life-threatening.
“We're not going to close our doors over this,” Perry said. “It would certainly be nicer to spend that 500 on other stuff but it's a true tax obligation.”
Stephens said the budget hit won't likely shut down any programs but it might keep The Center from expanding as quickly as he'd like.
He said the audit also uncovered $2,000 in unpaid state taxes from the same time period, but those were paid off last month.
