Lyon County Attorney Marc Goodman says an out-of-state realty company is not pulling its load as a corporate citizen when it comes to paying property taxes or maintaining its rental properties in Emporia.
Goodman says Eucalyptus Real Estate, based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, is two years behind on property tax payments on many of its local properties — translating to hundreds of thousands of dollars in property taxes that haven’t been paid. And the kicker is the city and the county can’t do anything to collect that money for another year.
Goodman says the situation is made worse to a degree because Eucalyptus is maintaining certain properties and is using Neighborhood Revitalization grants from the city for those repairs. Others, though, are “falling apart” with a range of issues.
Mayor Rob Gilligan says the collection of property taxes is a county issue, so the county will take the lead on tax collection matters. Having said that, Gilligan says it’s time for a conversation on how Eucalyptus plans to move forward and how the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic may play into the picture.
Gilligan says Eucalyptus is now the city’s second-largest rental property holder, so it handles a significant amount of property tax responsibility.
Tenant issues with local Eucalyptus properties have been mentioned for two years now. One tenant, who requested not to be fully named, told KVOE News he moved out of a Eucalyptus property locally after his situation became untenable. Issues started after heavy rain in 2019. The sump pump failed — and, according to the tenant, the company failed him to the point where it increased his rent $200 a month and wrongly took his security deposit.
Eucalyptus has not responded to a request from KVOE News seeking comment. Gilligan says the city wants to learn more about why the property tax payments are behind, but it’s the company’s responsibility to reach out to the city with that information.
Gilligan says tenants with issues need to reach out to City Housing Specialist Jeff Lynch at 343-4285 or go online to www.emporia-kansas.gov.
