Sharon Coolidge

scoolidge@enquirer.com

A torrent of court records since 2012 show Mahogany’s – which the state shuttered this week for unpaid sales tax – has a history of unpaid state taxes and fees.

The records show at one point Mahogany’s owner Liz Rogers owed Ohio taxpayers at least $61,338, the Enquirer found.

Rogers’ lawyer, Rob Croskery, told the Enquirer Wednesday that Rogers owes only about $17,000 – which is what she’ll need to re-open after the state shut her down for failure to pay sales tax.

Croskery said he’s looking into the possibility that the state overlooked a payment Rogers sent earlier this month. He believes the matter could be cleared up – and the restaurant reopened – by the end of the week.

The restaurant sits in a prime location in The Banks, the city’s riverfront development. City taxpayers acted as the restaurant’s investors, providing nearly a $1 million in startup money.

The $61,338 owed the state is on top of the past due amount of $31,796 that Rogers owes Cincinnati taxpayers on her $300,000 small business loan, part of the $1 million she got from the city. City officials continue to work with Rogers on a repayment schedule.

In all, Rogers has owed taxpayers $109,552, the Enquirer found after researching court and city records.

A look at the past-due debts:

• Tax lien cases against Mahogany’s total $61,338, though she has made payments on those, Rogers previously told The Enquirer.

• The State Bureau of Workers Compensation filed claims against Mahogany’s for another $16,418. Those cases remain open.

• And, she owes the $31,796 to the city, a figure city officials updated Wednesday. The $31,796 in overdue payments is part of a larger amount - $266,646 - that she will eventually have to repay on the city’s $300,000 loan.

Some of the problems stem from her former City of Hamilton-based Mahogany’s, which Rogers closed when she brought her soul food cooking Downtown.

.

The state shut down The Banks restaurant Tuesday for failing to pay its taxes, but Rogers called the closure a misunderstanding and said she’ll reopen within days.

The state tax commissioner posted a pink notice on the front door of the restaurant that said the business is under suspension for failing to pay its sales tax.

The Ohio Department of Taxation did not disclose the amount of taxes Mahogany’s owes. State spokesman Gary Gudmundson said the state typically shuts down a business if it fails to pay taxes for two consecutive months or three total months in a year.

“When it gets to a posting, it’s not a surprise to the business,” Gudmundson said.

It’s the latest twist in a troubled two years for Mahogany’s, which has struggled to pay its bills since opening to great fanfare in July 2012.

Gudmundson said his office estimates 75 percent of businesses the state shutters pay up the same day; after all, being closed means no revenues are generated.

Rogers could not be reached for comment Wednesday. She exclusively told the Enquirer Tuesday that she has a plan that includes new management, a new menu.

“It’s time for our hard work to start paying off,” Rogers said in that Enquirer interview. “I am working with the city.... I’m working toward having my life back.”

The state issues nearly 1,000 shut-down notices to businesses each year and has a program that works with businesses that repeatedly struggle to pay taxes on time.

Mahogany’s has been scrutinized since the city gave the restaurant a $684,000 grant and $300,000 small-business loan in 2012. The money was to be used to improve its building on East Freedom Way and buy furniture, fixtures and equipment and have working capital. The 10-year loan called for Rogers to pay $3,000 a month.

The money was part of an incentive package the city created to lure a minority-owned business to the high-profile riverfront development.

Rogers fell behind on her loan payment earlier this year. She attributed the financial struggles to the brutally cold winter and an overall slow start for The Banks, which hasn’t drawn the expected visitors. The development does not have a long-promised hotel, and it has not become a significant entertainment destination on days the Reds and Bengals aren’t playing.