Tax judgment levied against SEMO Times

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- The Missouri Department of Employment Security recently filed a judgment against the SEMO Times LLC for nearly $5,000 owed for unemployment taxes, interest and penalties.

Documents filed in recent weeks with Butler County's Circuit Court indicate on March 18 the Division of Employment Security certified orders of assessment of contributions, interest and penalties against the SEMO Times.

The orders were filed under provisions of the Missouri Employment Security Law.

Entries in online court records list the SEMO Times' address as the 600 block of County Road 454, the same address previously listed for its publisher, Scott Ryan Faughn.

Faughn, a former Greater Poplar Bluff Area Chamber of Commerce executive and Poplar Bluff mayor, is publisher of the Missouri Times in Jefferson City.

For the period of Jan. 1, 2011, to June 30, 2012, the amount owed by the SEMO Times is $1,322.60 in contributions, $76.06 in interest and $1,200 in penalties, for a total to $2,598.66. Also required are filing costs, court costs and interest of $3.30 a month until payment is received.

For the period of Oct. 1, 2012, to June 30, 2013, the amount owed is $1,649.77 in contributions, $56.49 in interest and $604.60 in penalties, for a total to $2,310.86. Along with the associated costs, interest is to be amended at $4.12 a month until payment is received.

Tom Bastian, director of communications for the Missouri Department of Labor, said "contributions" in this context means unemployment taxes.

Further information about the judgments, Bastian said, was not available as they are confidential records under Missouri law.

Under the Missouri Employment Security Law, each liable employer is required to file quarterly contribution and wage reports.

Wages earned by a worker and reported by an employer are used to determine the worker's potential unemployment insurance benefits.

Failure to file quarterly contribution and wage reports or pay state unemployment taxes when due may result in an assessment against the employer for contributions, interest and penalties, actual or estimated.

Before publishing the SEMO Times, Faughn was convicted by a Cape Girardeau County jury in March 2007 of three counts of felony forgery. In that case, Faughn was accused of forging checks on an account for the Highway 67 expansion project.