Shilo Inn owes Seaside six figures worth of lodging taxes.

A Circuit Court judge has ruled that Shilo Inn Seaside Oceanfront LLC must pay Seaside nearly $240,000 for three months of lodging taxes and penalties.

The hotel chain, founded and owned by Mark Hemstreet, has a history of defaulting on taxes. Seaside sued for almost $146,000 in 2016. In 2019, Shilo Inn faced the city in court twice, once for $58,000 and once for $200,000. The Warrenton and Portland hotel locations have also been sued for outstanding taxes.

“I represented the city for 53 years and I can tell you, all 53 years, I’ve never had to sue anybody else for transient tax,” Dan Van Thiel, Seaside’s former city attorney, said. In previous cases, he said, the hotel paid debts before they reached the judgment stage, but this time the case ran its full course.

Van Thiel issued an official complaint in early March showing the 10% lodging tax for the summer quarter was five months past due. The original balance owed was over $145,000, but interest and penalties brought it closer to $240,000 by the time of the complaint.

“The Shilo Inn is benefiting from the good actors out there that are paying their taxes, which are then going back into the city’s marketing efforts to bring more people into town,” Zach Fleck, Seaside’s finance director, said.

The hotel failed to respond within 30 days, and the city’s request was granted by order of default in early June.

Fleck said Shilo Inn has not taken any steps toward payment following the ruling. The city is also waiting on lodging taxes from the following three fiscal quarters.

“They didn’t pay us in October and they haven’t paid us since,” Fleck said.

A delinquent taxpayer list published this month by the Oregon Department of Revenue showed that Hemstreet owes the state over $3.5 million in personal income and withholding tax.

Shilo Inn could not be reached for comment.