City freezes accounts of Paddlewheels

Friday, Sept. 19, 1997 | 10:24 a.m.

The account was frozen because the city is concerned about a tax bill for the Flamingo casino that is owed by Paddlewheels Inc., said Paddlewheels President Duane Smith.

"We feel the city simply made a mistake," he said.

Smith said Paddlewheels has not received a tax bill and the city is basing its decision on an estimated bill for the Flamingo.

City officials were not available for comment.

The move was a surprise to all Paddlewheels employees, said spokeswoman Anna Pepper. She said more than 460 employees took their paychecks to the bank on Friday, only to be rejected.

On Tuesday, the Louisiana Gaming Control Board ordered the Flamingo to leave its New Orleans berth by Oct. 1.

Flamingo owners asked for a new berth in Shreveport a year ago, fearing competition from a land-based casino that seemed to be on track to become reality.

But other things happened: The land-based casino never materialized and the owners were not in a big hurry to leave New Orleans.

Along the way, the Hilton Hotels Corp., which also owns part of the Flamingo, dropped out of the Shreveport deal - , which owns the Flamingo vessel.

"We definitely think (the city's actions) has something to do with the Flamingo leaving," Smith said. "We've never even been late on a tax bill."

Smith said Paddlewheels would work with the city to get a resolution to the problem within the next 48 hours.

The Flamingo is just one of several companies the Paddlewheels owns or co-owns. All of its businesses will continue to operate through the weekend, even though that means many employees are working without pay.

"I love this job, but working for nothing? I did enough of that in high school," said Chris Wright, assistant food and beverage director.

Kathy Kapoulas, director of sales for Paddlewheels, said she bought a house two weeks ago and is concerned about having enough money to pay for the mortgage bill.

"It's bad because no one knows what's going on," Ms. Kapoulas said.