SADLER

by JENNIFER BIUNDO

Montgomery County Judge Alan Sadler is attempting to pay off more than $50,000 in delinquent tax debt to Hays County, part of $300,000 in unpaid taxes that Sadler and his business partner have amassed over the last two years throughout the state.

Under the name of Development II Partners Inc., Sadler and his business partner Aslam Kapadia own On the Run convenience store at IH-35 and Wonder World Drive. The business owes $41,253 in delinquent taxes on the real property account and $9,549 on personal property, said Hays County Tax Assessor-Collector Luanne Caraway. The taxes are owed to Hays County, San Marcos ISD, the city of San Marcos and a road district.

Taxes for the previous year come due on Jan. 31, and the county initiates legal action against delinquent property owners after July 1, Caraway said. Typically, about two percent of property tax owed to the county is delinquent or unpaid.

The McCreary law firm filed a lawsuit seeking back taxes for the real property, or land and buildings on behalf of Hays County, Caraway said. The firm sent a notice to the lien holders on July 6 and filed the suit on Aug. 31.

“They usually give them about a month to respond,” Caraway said.

Meanwhile, Linebarger law firm is working on a tax warrant for the personal property account on behalf of all taxing entities in the county, Caraway said.

Caraway said she spoke with Sadler Wednesday and he agreed to pay $3,000 per month as the company attempts to resolve the debt.

Development II Partners and other businesses owned by Sadler and Kapadia also owe back taxes in Harris, Galveston, Grimes, Henderson and Fort Bend counties.

Sadler blamed the 2008 Hurricane Ike and the national recession for his business woes, according to news reports. He told Caraway that the tenants running the convenience store were supposed to be paying the taxes, she said.

Sadler and his business partner have made headlines in recent months. Kapadia was indicated for his alleged role in a money laundering ring and pled guilty to a single charge this April. The verdict is sealed and Kapadia was not incarcerated, according to news reports.

Sadler, meanwhile, was arrested last March after rear-ending a school teacher and her 15-year-old son and the next month pled guilty to a class B misdemeanor charge of driving while intoxicated. He said he was taking Phenobarbital following a dental procedure and didn’t know the risks of mixing the drug with alcohol.

Montgomery County has a population just shy of 300,000 and is anchored in Conroe, part of the sprawling Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown Metropolitan Area. Much like Hays County, it’s a formerly rural region whose population has skyrocketed in recent years as big-city commuters seek affordable housing.

Sadler has served for more than 20 years as county judge and is seeking a sixth term. He easily dispatched his GOP primary opponent this spring and didn’t draw a major party challenge on the November ballot, but he is facing a race with independent Adrian David Heath.