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John Daley ReportingA lengthy dispute between one of Utah's largest auto dealerships and the state threatens to spill over into the next legislative session. At issue are dozens of unlicensed salespeople at Brent Brown Automotive Group, and a large fine.
That fine was $135,000.
State law requires that salespeople working at car dealerships be licensed, and that a form be filled out and filed, along with a $31 fee. In 2004, the Utah Tax Commission investigated four dealerships in the Brent Brown Automotive Group, located in Provo. They found at least 51 unlicensed salespeople had sold 306 cars in a 20 month period.
The commission originally fined the dealerships more than 1 million dollars and later lowered the penalty to 135-thousand dollars, after determining some of the unlicensed sales people hadn't sold any cars.
But Brent Brown says the problem was a "clerical error" by an employee who has since been fired, who failed to file the forms. He says the problems could have been fixed with a simple phone call from the Tax Commission and that the fine is excessive.
Reporter: "135-thousand, your department feels like that's justified?
Charlie Roberts, Spokesman, Utah Tax Commission: "We do, considering the number of sales people who did not submit and the number of cars that were sold during that time period."
Brent Brown appealed the fine, but lost in state court. One judge wrote the fine "wasn't disproportional when compared with the monetary value Brown gained from the selling of cars by unlicensed salespeople," a figure they calculated at $441 for each vehicles sold.
The Utah Automobile Dealers Association says it plans to go to the legislature next session to lobby for putting a cap on such fines in the future.
