By EDWARD HUSAR

Herald-Whig Staff Writer

Country Inn and Suites has followed through with a court order and paid $4,035 in fines and fees for non-payment of its hotel-motel taxes for one month last year.

Adams County Circuit Court records show the company paid the fines and fees Wednesday -- one day before the court-imposed deadline.

Quincy Hotel LLC, the corporation doing business as Country Inn and Suites, pleaded no contest at a hearing June 11 in connection with a lawsuit brought by the city.

The suit specifically related to $10,890.95 in hotel-motel taxes the hotel collected in May 2008 and which should have been turned over to the city treasurer by June 30, 2008. The hotel also has been non-compliant in its payment of hotel-motel taxes for other months in 2008, but the case only related to the May 2008 taxes. The city was seeking up to $156,000 in fines and penalties for that month alone.

Judge Chet Vahle accepted the no contest plea and reduced the fines and penalties to $4,035. He gave the hotel until June 18 to pay that amount.

Mike Hill, managing member of Quincy Hotel LLC, told The Quincy Herald-Whig last week the hotel had paid $110,939.79 to the city treasurer, which accounts for all the hotel-motel taxes past due, except for interest.

Earlier this month Mayor John Spring announced his decision to revoke the operating license of Country Inn and Suites effective July 8 for non-payment of the facility's hotel-motel taxes for the period of May through November of last year.

The mayor's written ruling -- based on testimony presented at a May 27 license-revocation hearing at City Hall -- stipulated that the hotel's management would have an opportunity to request a hearing before the effective date to show whether it has come into compliance. This would give the mayor the option to reconsider his decision before a final revocation order is issued.

As of Friday, no formal hearing had been requested.

"We've been in periodic contact with the hotel, and there's nothing new filed in the case," said City Treasurer Peggy Crim.

Spring said Friday the hotel's management "talked about requesting a hearing, but to the best of my knowledge it hasn't formally been requested."

-- ehusar@whig.com/221-3378