Atlantic City has received a million property tax payment from bankrupt Trump Entertainment Resorts.
According to the Associated Press, the city was planning to hold a tax sale this month on the unpaid taxes for the Trump Taj Mahal and the closed Trump Plaza. Investors could have bought a lien that had to be paid off with interest of up to 18 percent.
Chris Filiciello, a spokesman for Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian, told the wire service the company has paid its taxes for the year, giving the city some budgetary breathing room.
Trump Entertainment had declined to make tax payments since March as it disputed the true value of the real estate, the AP reported. But the threat of the tax sale seems to have changed the company’s mind.
“In an effort to prevent the continued accrual of fees and interest at a rate of up to 18 percent on the accrued but unpaid amount owed to Atlantic City for 2015 real estate taxes, the debtors have determined, in their business judgment, that payment of their 2015 real estate taxes prior to the sale by the City of Atlantic City of any tax certificates … would be in the best interests of the debtors’ estates,” the company wrote in a bankruptcy court filing.
Also, the bankruptcy court approved an additional $12.6 million in funding from billionaire Carl Icahn—who is attempting to acquire the company through the proceedings—to pay the tax bill.
