Developer Tommy Spinosa is delinquent on his 2009 property taxes on the 120-acre tract of land he is trying to develop into the Rouzan TND. According to the public notices published Saturday in The Advocate, Spinosa’s 2590 Associates, the legal entity that owns Rouzan, has not paid two separate tax bills on the property, totaling nearly $146,000. Those properties are assessed at more than $13 million, according to parish tax director Octave Anthaume. Spinosa, whose son Tommy Spinosa III is now managing the Rouzan project, has until June 1 to pay the late taxes, after which time the property will go up for sheriff’s sale. Even if that were to happen, however, Spinosa would have three years in which to buy the property back. Spinosa isn’t alone in being late on his taxes. Some 15,500 property owners received delinquent notices that were mailed April 1, according to Anthaume.
This isn’t the first time Spinosa has fallen behind on Rouzan’s property taxes, nor is it the only property tax bill he hasn’t paid yet this year. He still owes more than $18,000 on his East Lakeshore Drive home, valued at $1.7 million, and more than $4,600 on a Perkins Road property he owns across the street from Rouzan. He was delinquent paying property tax on those properties both last year and the year before. Spinosa III did not return a call for comment. At least one local developer who knows the market well but asked not to be identified says it’s neither surprising nor particularly ominous that Spinosa is late paying his property tax bills. Read the full story here. —Stephanie Riegel
