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Three bars in the downtown Blue Dome District owned by a Tulsa city councilor failed to pay about $80,000 in state taxes over the past two years, according to the Oklahoma Tax Commission.

Court action was taken to collect the debt from The Max Retropub, 114 S. Elgin Ave.; The Fur Shop, 520 E. Third St.; and Legends Dance Hall & Saloon, 514 E. Second St.

The bars, co-owned by Councilor Blake Ewing, failed to pay sales and mixed beverage taxes during different time periods between May 2014 and May of this year, according to documents the commission filed Tuesday in Tulsa County District Court.

Those are taxes that customers pay when they make a purchase, and the business is responsible for subsequently handing that money over to the state.

When a business fails to remit the money from those taxes to the state, interest and penalty fees are tacked onto the original unpaid tax amount until it is paid in full.

The commission alleges the bars failed to pay taxes in amounts totaling $80,262.38 and owe an additional $16,400.35 in penalties, fees and interest, according to the court documents.