The vote came a day after Cincinnati City Manager Milton Dohoney Jr. sought to explain to city council why a deal was offered to Liz and Trent Rogers, owners of Hamilton-based Mahogany’s Café and Grill, despite them having tax debt issues.
Liz Rogers said she learned of $3,900 delinquent property tax bill about three-and-a-half weeks ago and worked to pay off the debt as quickly as possible. The debt, she said, came not from the restaurant but from Prima Spa Services, a company the couple acquired when they purchased a building.
Council postponed a Feb. 23 vote on the deal after learning of the recently paid debt.
She said reports of $49,000 owed in federal taxes also have nothing to do with Mahogany’s. That money, she said, is part of a tax lien on her credit from 2007 that came as a result of taxes being filed late for a now-closed business involving other partners.
“Once a lien has been put on your credit, it doesn’t go away for 7 to 10 years,” she said.
In a memo to council, Dohoney said the administration evaluates each deal it does and the associated risk, which each deal has to some extent.
“The consensus is that the way this deal is structured there will be cash flow and enough business generated to repay the obligation of the loan,” he said.
Council member Wendell Young said he voted in favor of the deal because “the administration has shown its ability to put together really good deals in the past, recommended that council members pursue it.”
“I am aware of some of the personal issues that have been brought up but the owner has satisfied those,” he said. “The only thing, I believe that’s outstanding is the debt to the IRS and even there, she has a payment schedule.”
“I don’t expect that she has to have a squeaky clean record to do business with the city of Cincinnati, but the blemishes on hers are not things that happened because she’s not a good person, they’re not things that happened because she’s not a good businessperson.”
Council members Chris Seelbach said he voted for the deal last week in committee, but changed his mind when council members did not get a response from the city’s administration regarding questions about the deal until late Tuesday afternoon.
“It didn’t respond to many of the questions that I have,” he said. “I wasn’t convinced at this point that it’s a great deal for the city.”
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