Friday, April 26, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
The Internal Revenue Service seized control of the Mount Charleston Restaurant and Lodge and within hours began selling portions of the rustic getaway, which owes nearly $372,500 in taxes.
Without notice to owners Collie and Barbara Orcutt, as many as 30 revenue officers and special agents arrived at the lodge at 9 a.m. Thursday, a government spokeswoman said.
By 2 p.m., the IRS officers had created an inventory of all property and began auctioning off the perishable food and the lodge's seven horses to the highest bidders.
An estimated XXXX was made Thursday, spokeswoman Marilyn Steen said. The rest of the property will be sold in the near future.
The money will be applied to the debt the Orcutts owe the government. Liens filed in 1992, 1994 and 1996 show the couple and their company, C-Bar Corp., failed to pay personal, corporate and federal employment taxes.
The 13 cabins located next to the lodge are owned by a corporation that is connected to the Orcutts, though the ties are unclear. The IRS did not seize the cabins, which remain open.
Seizure is a last resort for the IRS, which first tries to work with delinquent taxpayers to develop payment schedules, Steen said.
The government has the option of operating seized businesses, like it did when it foreclosed on the Mustang Ranch, a popular Northern Nevada brothel. But Steen said the IRS is not interested this time.
"No, we're not going to operate it," she said. "Can you imagine the liability when someone fell down on their skis? The plans are to sell it. When we seize, we will sell."
The Orcutts have up until the day of the auction to find the $372,457.03 owed, or to propose a reasonable payment arrangement. The couple was unavailable for comment.
But an employee who asked not to be named said: "We may be opening up real soon. I can't make any promises, but they didn't sound too down about it."
The seizure of the Mount Charleston Lodge came as a surprise to many.
Mount Charleston Resort clerk Michelle Guevara said many of the guests were concerned about the activity. The 13 cabins next to the lodge are owned by another corporation, the IRS said, and was not affected by the seizure.
"I don't think it will have much of an effect (on business), though people will have to drive down the mountain to eat," Guevara said.
The popular lodge was purchased in 1974 by the Orcutts, who first visited the facility as honeymooners the year before.
"We had all these wonderful memories from our honeymoon ... by the time we got to the bottom (of the mountain), we decided to buy it," Barbara Orcutt said in a 1988 interview.
The Orcutts sold the lodge in 1980, but took possession again in 1982 after the the new owner filed for bankruptcy.
But the couple had its own money troubles. The two reorganized their finances under a Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan, according to court records that show the case closed in 1986. Today, they owe nearly $59,200 in personal income taxes, a tax lien showed.
But the debt did not stop the Orcutts from having big plans for the lodge. The couple received permission to build cabins in 1994 and last summer they received permission to build a wedding chapel.
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