B: James E. Zeller

B ) Property sale / James E. Zeller from Hiten Hospitality Inc.
( given a 70% discount immediately by tax assessor ) Documents

  1. On January 9, 2008, James E. Zeller purchased property from Hiten Hospitality Inc.
  2. Located on Halfway Road in Marion, Illinois, just west of Interstate 57, this property included about one third of the existing BEST INNS hotel building on 1.9 acres of largely vacant land, as verified by Google aerial photos.
  3. According to P-TAX documents filed at the courthouse, the purchase price was $ 1,300,000.00.
  4. Zeller then demolished the structure, and erected the Country Inn & Suites on the site.
  5. The tax assessor issued the 2008/2009 tax bill for the now vacant land parcel for an assessment for full fair cash value of only $ 414,090.00, roughly a 70% discount from the actual purchase price. There were no improvements listed on the tax bill.
  6. The subsequent tax bills reflect the addition of the new building, but the land remains valued at the 70% discount. ( approximately $ 900,000.00 below purchase price )
  7. Worthy of note, in 2008 the percentage of tax dollars deflecting to TIF on this parcel skyrocketed from 15% to 80%, and now TIF is receiving 98% of the total property tax.
  8. To date, the rough estimate of tax monies the county has been defrauded of on this transaction alone is approximately $ 112,000.00.

See Exhibit B Documents )

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