LOS ANGELES COUNTY : Newspaper Group Seized by IRS; Staff Is Laid Off
Coast Media Newspapers, publisher of nine free newspapers in the Los Angeles area, was seized by the Internal Revenue Service on Thursday for failing to pay more than $228,000 in back taxes from 1992.
The entire staff of nearly 50 employees was laid off after being notified late Wednesday afternoon of the IRS takeover.
The privately held company was supported by annual advertising revenues of about $4 million and had been operating at a slight profit, according to Publisher Stephen Hadland. But the company was hit hard by the recession and the earthquake and is saddled with $1.5 million in debt, Hadland said.
The IRS plans to collect the back taxes from the publishing company’s pending advertising payments and other accounts receivable. Hadland said the company is owed about half a million dollars and that he plans to reopen Coast Media when the tax lien is settled.
The company publishes the Culver City News, Lawndale Tribune, Hawthorne Community News, Inglewood News, Westchester News, Playa del Rey News, Beverlywood News, Cheviot Hills News and Rancho Park News.
