WEST PARIS — Town officials are demanding that a local nursing home pay almost $22,000 in personal property taxes, interest and fees dating back to 2005.

Wilday LLC, owner of Ledgeview Living Center on Route 26, owes the town $21,995.55 for equipment, machinery and other physical assets, Town Manager John White said. The company is up to date on its real estate taxes, he said.

A company official said Friday that Wilday LLC intends to pay its debt in full but is awaiting Medicare reimbursement from the state.

“We’re living month to month right now,” Business Manager Roger Wilday said.

About 70 percent of the facility’s residents are Medicare recipients, and the company is owed $150,000 from the state, a balance that has not been paid in six months, Wilday said.

Ledgeview is a long-term-care facility with 81 beds, according to information provided by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services website.

Ledgeview’s situation is not uncommon among long-term-care facilities that depend on Medicare payments, Wilday said. 

Earlier this week, White sent a letter to Lawrence Wilday, owner of Wilday LLC, demanding the company pay its taxes. The town has not had contact with the company about the issue for years, White said. 

The company paid some of its taxes a number of years ago, but has since built its debt back up, White said. The most recent letter is the last in a series of communications with the company. So far, the town has not received a response, White said. 

Ledgeview’s tax debt is equivalent to roughly 2 percent of West Paris’ municipal spending for 2014, according to White. 

According to the annual town report, Wilday LLC had $50.82 in unpaid taxes at the end of 2005. Every year thereafter, however, the company had an average annual unpaid balance of around $2,700.

The company’s true list, the reference used by the town to determine what personal property taxes it’s owed, is out of date, White said. According to the list, the company’s most recent equipment purchase was in 1988, he said.

Roger Wilday said the company has every intention of paying its tax bill in full as soon as possible. 

pmcguire@sunjournal.com