Idaho Club faces tax deeding over unpaid debts

SANDPOINT — The developers of the exclusive Idaho Club have until May 21 to settle tax debts in Bonner County or face losing the club at auction.

Pend Oreille Bonner Development owes $1.4 million in unpaid taxes for 2008-2010, according to Bonner County Treasurer Cheryl Piehl.

If the developers can’t come up with the unpaid tax revenue before the deadline, the county has 14 months to set a hearing to auction off the Jack Nicklaus-signature golf course and nearly 200 undeveloped parcels.

“This is enormous. This is the biggest challenge I think I’ve faced as a treasurer,” said Piehl.

The developers are also in arrears for taxes owed from 2011-2013, but it’s the earlier unpaid taxes that have triggered the tax deeding process, Piehl said.

Much of the revenue is owed to the county and the rest is owed to various other taxing districts that collect property tax from the Idaho Club.

The potential tax deeding is thought to be the largest such action in Bonner County and perhaps one of the biggest in the state, said county Commission Chairman Cary Kelly.

“I can’t imaging anything this big,” said Kelly, adding that it may be on par with the foreclosure of the Tamarack Resort southwest of Donnelly.

Although Pend Oreille Bonner Development is not in bankruptcy, R.E. Loans, which provided substantial funding for the development, is, according to Larry Goins, a Bonner County deputy prosecutor who has provided civil counsel to the commission.

“It’s one of the larger tax deeding cases that I have heard of — or the most complex,” said Goins, referring to the number of interested parties, the scope of the development and the amount of money at issue.

The company that provided $4.9 million in surety bonds for the Idaho Club’s road and utility infrastructure — Western Insurance Co. — also went bankrupt.

The complexity of issue prompted the county to arrange outside legal counsel, Boise attorney Gery Edson. Edson was not immediately available for comment on Friday.

The prospect of tax deeding reportedly has the club’s homeowner’s association on edge and has other developers wheeling over the club in hopes of purchasing it at a fire-sale price.

If the club goes to tax deed, the county can only collect the taxes, fees and costs that are owed.

“The taxing district would all be made whole,” said Piehl. “We’re not making money off of this.”

The homeowners’ association president could not be immediately reached for comment. His phone rang unanswered on Friday.

“They’re concerned about it and we’ve told them we share their concerns, but we’re not in any position to make any type of commitment from the county until the hearing,” said Kelly.