Moray Council say they had “no option” other than launching legal action to retrieve unpaid non-domestic rates from the owners of the St Giles Centre.
In November, councillors agreed to pursue around £750,000 in unpaid rates from St Giles Shopping Centre Holdings Ltd
Last month, the shopping centre shut down after owners St Giles Shopping Centre Holdings Ltd pulled the plug amidst crippling debts.
Tenants were given less than two weeks to vacate the building.
David Cameron, the only director of the company, blamed Edgar Road retail parks for the demise of the Elgin shopping centre.
And he also said the rising number of vacant units caused the mall’s cash crisis.
New details revealed about unpaid rates crisis
Today, behind closed doors, the local authority’s audit committee looked at a report assessing Moray Council’s handling of the recovery of the non-domestic rates from St Giles.
Business rates are a form of property tax which help pay for local council services.
The Scottish Government is responsible for making decisions about and setting non-domestic rates.
Councils administer and collect the tax.
Interim Chief Executive John Mundell had commissioned an internal audit of how the debt recovery was carried out.
It was revealed that as far back as 2022, there had been “extensive communications” between senior officials over the shopping centre’s financial woes.
Committee chairman Scott Lawrence revealed that a repayment plan had been agreed with Mr Cameron.
He added: “When it was not upheld the council had no option but to initiate debt recovery enforcement proceedings.
“These were suspended for a period to facilitate further discussions around the potential redevelopment of the centre with the director of the management company, however when this did not progress enforcement action was instructed to continue.”
Meanwhile auditors say the issues “should have been raised with full council at an earlier date to afford councillors the opportunity to consider all the challenging details of the situation”.
It was also agreed going forward, record keeping and monitoring of any similar decisions would be improved.
Councillor Lawrence added the report was discussed in private due to the potential of a further external investigation and didn’t want to prejudice any such proceedings.
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