Bloomington's Eagle Pointe Golf Resort is back open a few weeks after the Indiana Department of Revenue forced its shutdown due to unpaid back taxes.
Department of Revenue Director of Communications Emily Landis confirms council representing Eagle Pointe reached an agreement allowing the business to resume normal operations on Tuesday.
Eagle Pointe owner Doug Thomas has operated the golf course, restaurant and pro shop since purchasing the business in December. Since then, Eagle Pointe has twice been shut down due to tax violations, which Monroe County Sheriff Brad Swain says is unpaid payroll and sales taxes.
Landis could not say how much is owed to the state and could not release details about the agreement. Swain says Thomas previously had a payment plan in place, but a bounced check on one of those payments prompted the second shutdown at the end of August.
Swain says one of his department's primary duties is to enforce tax payment violations on behalf of the Department of Revenue.
"It's not an uncommon thing to see a business with those orange signs in the front window until they resolve the tax issues," he says.
Swain says the public attention to Eagle Pointe has prompted other local business to catch up on back taxes early.
"My tax warrant administrator advised that turned-in voluntary revenue on back taxes in August of this year tripled over August of 2016," he says. "It's not just the revenue from Eagle Pointe, but a lot of other businesses have come into compliance now."
Thomas was recently arrested and released on bond for unrelated domestic charges in Boone County.
Eagle Pointe representatives did not respond to a message requesting comment.