After Travis County’s prime tax collector warned he would begin seizing Bird scooters to recoup unpaid property taxes, the California-based firm rushed to pay its excellent bill in full.
Bird, which rents out dockless electrical scooters round Austin, had been listed among the many prime 10 delinquent property tax payers in Travis County for 2021. The firm owed $147,195 — which was the seventh-highest unpaid bill this 12 months, in response to the county’s tax workplace.
Tax payments went out in November 2021. The deadline to pay was Jan. 31. With further penalties and curiosity, Bird owed about $149,000.
Travis County Tax Assessor-Collector Bruce Elfant says Bird hadn’t been returning cellphone calls. His workplace was submitting a lawsuit to grab the corporate’s scooters and promote them off to recoup the unpaid bill.
“I don’t know if we can seize $149,000 worth of scooters, so this is uncharted territory for us,” Elfant advised KUT earlier than the bill had been paid.
Bird advised KUT by e-mail Tuesday that the corporate was working to resolve the excellent cost however supplied no particulars.
Bird owed Travis County taxes not on actual property however on the scooters themselves and different property used to run the fleet in Austin.
“Businesses get taxed on their personal property, so this would be considered personal property of theirs,” stated Karol A. Griffiths, a licensed public accountant with the regulation agency Blazier, Christensen, Browder and Virr, P.C.
Bird owns $5,984,402 in private property in Travis County, in response to tax data. The firm is allowed to deploy as much as 4,500 scooters in Austin, making it the town’s second-largest micromobility operator after Lime, which is licensed to function as much as 5,850 scooters and 500 bicycles.
Austin’s Transportation Department says Bird is in compliance with the division’s rules and licensing processes.
Bird — which has fleets of shared micromobility gadgets in additional than 400 cities world wide — reported final month $10.4 million in quarterly revenue, a pointy flip in fortunes. The similar quarter final 12 months, Bird had a internet lack of $76.2 million.
It’s unclear what number of scooters Travis County would have needed to promote to recoup $149,000. A Bird scooter from Best Buy retails for $599. But a scooter pulled off the road and auctioned on the courthouse steps must be modified for private use.
Converting a shared scooter for personal possession requires some technical know-how and elements, however the directions are straightforward to search out on-line.
Travis County’s tax workplace has collected about 99% of 2021 property taxes, however some $67 million continues to be excellent.
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