City seeks unpaid taxes, interest

MOSES LAKE - The City of Moses Lake filed a lien against Cardroom Inc., for $146,987 in unpaid gambling taxes.

The city also asked the state Gambling Commission to start enforcement action to revoke the business' gambling license, Moses Lake City Manager Joseph Gavinski said this week.

The filing comes after the restaurant and casino, better known as the Porterhouse Restaurant, allegedly missed a Sept. 8 deadline to pay the taxes and penalties and $17,000 in accrued interest.

The Columbia Basin Herald was unable to contact Porterhouse owners Steven Crothers and Brian Rosborough for comment.

The lien is against the Porterhouse's personal and real property for the amount of unpaid taxes and interest, Gavinski said.

"One of the conditions of having a license is the payment of taxes," he said.

Gavinski said he understands the business may not have any real property, but equipment in the business may have some value.

The city needs to petition the commission for the gambling license to be revoked and hasn't done so yet, said Amy Hunter, a state Gambling Commission spokesperson Wednesday. The city sent a petition to the commission in 2006, but it appears more taxes are owed, she said.

Gavinski said the city sent two letters to the commission and the city is waiting for the commission to take action. One letter sent Sept. 9 informed the commission the taxes hadn't been paid and that enforcement action be commenced, he said.

The second letter sent later this month told the commission the lien was filed Friday at the Grant County Auditor's Office.

Hunter said a commission representative was going to speak to the city.

Two other previous charges against the business - failure to disclose a lawsuit and failure to disclose financial contributions from an owner - were resolved earlier this year, Hunter said.

The owners went before an administrative law judge, who issued a suspension, she said.

The suspension means the business couldn't be operated, she said. They appealed the 15-day suspension, but the appeal was denied, Hunter confirmed. So the suspension was served.

The owners are reportedly trying to sell the Moses Lake business, Hunter said.

Cars were in the parking lot on Wednesday and the business appeared open for customers.