Going to the high school football game and then heading over to celebrate the win or lament the loss at Tasty Dog – it’s as American as mom and apple pie. And it’s a long-time tradition for Oak Parkers.
That tradition could soon come to an end, though, due to the restaurant’s unwillingness or inability to pay its rent, so says its landlord – the Village of Oak Park. The village government has now started an eviction process for the restaurant which remains open. In addition to an unpaid $40,525 in rent and fees, the restaurant owes $38,252 in unpaid property taxes to Cook County for 2013 and 2014.
Locals feel so strongly about the local eatery, located at 708 Lake St., that in 2001 they protested at village hall to keep the hot dog joint open when a developer wanted to purchase the property at its former location across the street at 701 Lake St.
In a compromise, Oak Park purchased the land and another parcel at Tasty Dog’s current location for a little over $1 million. The village also spent a reported $450,000 to build the current restaurant. As the owner of the parcels, the village became Tasty Dog’s landlord.
The landlord-tenant relationship became strained, though, earlier this year when Tasty Dog stopped paying rent. Tasty Dog owner Michael Barton acknowledged in a telephone interview that he does owe back rent to the village, but declined to discuss the situation in detail.
“I hired a lawyer to talk to the village, so I don’t know what’s going on,” he said.
Oak Park Business Services Manager Loretta Daly served Tasty Dog with a termination of tenancy notice on May 12, stating that Barton owes $39,930 in late rent and $595 in penalty fees. The notice gave Barton 30 days to pay the village in full or his lease would be terminated.
That 30-day notice has passed and Tasty Dog’s doors remain open for business.
According to the 2001 lease signed by Barton, the annual rent was scheduled to escalate every five years, starting out at $79,200 annually from 2005 to the end of 2009 and increasing to $87,120 in 2010 and to $95,832 in January 2015. Beginning in January, the restaurant’s monthly rent jumped to $7,986 from $7,260.
Village Manager Cara Pavlicek said Monday that she has been in touch with Barton, but she noted, “They did not pay and the deadline has passed.”
Pavlicek called it “a rotten position” to be in but added that the taxpayers of Oak Park are the one’s losing out when the tenant of a village-owned property can’t or won’t pay.
“Our responsibility as the (village) staff is to make sure we are enforcing the lease agreement that was adopted by the village board; we have a responsibility that this is the taxpayer’s money,” she said. “It is part of running a business, and the village is a business. We can’t just let somebody not pay.”
The eviction process is now making its way through the court, but it is uncertain how long it might take before the issue is resolved, Pavlicek said. She said if Tasty Dog is evicted from the site, the village could find another tenant or sell the property.
Village President Anan Abu-Taleb said in a telephone interview that it is an unfortunate situation for everyone involved but echoed Pavlicek in his commitment to the taxpayers of Oak Park.
“I want them to succeed but our obligation is to deliver on the promises they made to the taxpayers,” he said. “I think maybe they felt the village was going to look the other way. I don’t know.”
Abu-Taleb said the village would like to work with Tasty Dog, “but not at the expense of the taxpayers.”
The recent flap over back rent is not the first time Tasty Dog has found itself in financial trouble, and it might not be the only entity to which the business owes money. In 2009, Tasty Dog received a bill from Cook County for roughly $120,000 in unpaid leasehold taxes, dating to 2003.
Oak Park Township Assessor Ali ElSaffar told Wednesday Journal in 2009 that properties owned by the village are exempt from taxes, unless it leases the space to a for-profit business. He said that records showed that Tasty Dog was sent tax bills by the county in 2007 and 2008, but Barton said at the time that he never received them.
The restaurant ultimately resolved the tax bill with the help of the village but was expected to pay those taxes after an agreement was reached on the delinquent bill.
Pavlicek noted that she was aware the leasehold taxes were again delinquent. According to Cook County, Tasty Dog has yet to pay a $21,379 tax bill for 2013 and an $11,758 bill in 2014. The interest on those two unpaid bills puts the combined payment due to $25,788 for 2013 and $12,464 for 2014.
Contact: tim@oakpark.com