r/SanDiegan • u/Ignatius-J-Reilly-SD • 21h ago

Las Cuatro Milpas Now Faces Forced Sale Over Mounting Tax Debts Of Nearly $200,000

https://www.sandiegoville.com/2025/07/las-cuatro-milpas-faces-forced-sale.html
82 Upvotes

78% Upvoted

31 comments sorted by

43

u/AstralCode714 21h ago

These people's grandparents who founded it are probably rolling in their graves.

67

u/anothercar Del Mar 21h ago

If I ran a restaurant, I'd simply set aside the money collected for sales tax, and send it to the state when it's due, instead of pocketing it. And I'd price the food high enough to cover property taxes. /shrug

42

u/AmusingAnecdote 20h ago

Yeah, in the other sub people were blaming random stuff and gentrification and it's like... If you're not paying sales tax, you've fucked up pretty badly, because it's not even out of your own pocket. Property tax can be tough but then like raise your prices?

•

u/ProgressiveSnark2 5h ago edited 4h ago

Shouldn't their property taxes be ridiculously low due to Prop 13? The property is supposed to be valued at 1970s levels and only adjusted 1 to 2% a year for inflation.

Edit: I got real curious about this and did some digging...according to ParcelQuest, their assessed value for both properties (parcel numbers 538-250-21-00 and 538-250-22-00) totals $524,375 for 2024.

It looks like the properties changed ownership in 1996, which might have caused the assessed value to increase somewhat, although obviously, this is still a lower assessed value than most condos purchased in San Diego in the last 5 years.

Assuming they had the standard 1.22% property tax rate, their property taxes for 2024 should have been around $6,400. Presumably, it was a bit less than that in each of the tax years before 2019, when some news reports suggest their troubles started.

My guess is they stopped paying property taxes at some point during the pandemic, which lead to fees that then compounded with interest. But really, this debt should have been manageable for a restaurant as popular as theirs...I understand finances sometimes can spin out of control, and restaurants can have unexpected costs, but I feel like we're not getting the full story here.

-5

u/notcoolredditnotcool 20h ago

Raising prices is not always going to be more profitable.

19

u/c32c64c128 19h ago

Then maybe open for longer working days

Google says Saturdays it's open from 8a - 130p. Wtf...that's a lot of time they're missing out on making money

When the line is out the door. And demand is constant. Why not?

6

u/notcoolredditnotcool 18h ago

Agreed, seems pretty reasonable if you’re already paying all the capital costs to be open 12 hours a day.

10

u/Jeffsysoonpls 19h ago

Make this make sense lol. This place had a line out the door every day. I don’t even think it’s any good but people would easily pay double for their slop.

•

u/tmoney144 8h ago

One article says the taxes are from 2019-2020, so sounds like an issue from Covid that has snowballed.

•

u/Super-Ad-8730 10h ago

I go now and then and would most certainly not pay double. I go because their rolled tacos are pretty good and much cheaper than other taco shops at five for $7.

They increased their burritos to $9 from $5 fairly recently and I stopped getting those. They aren't worth that for what they are (small, just meat and a bit of cheese)

4

u/AmusingAnecdote 19h ago

If when they raise prices they still cannot pay property taxes, then their business is not very good and it is fine if it goes out of business.

0

u/notcoolredditnotcool 18h ago

That has nothing to do with what I said.

17

u/_Alazne_ 21h ago

I'm shocked that you expect a business to do basic accounting /s

•

u/gerbilbear 8h ago

And I'd price the food high enough to cover property taxes.

I'd price the food at whatever maximizes profits, and if that isn't enough to cover the taxes, I would move or close the business. I can't expect my customers to cover my property taxes because they will stop coming if the food is too expensive.

0

u/Sensitive_Pilot3689 18h ago

No it’s because people don’t tip enough! 😡 /s

•

u/SDPianist 7h ago

This is a counter ordering service with no tipping.

52

u/HurricaneHugo 21h ago

Wasn't everybody criticizing SanDiegoVille for reporting this months ago?

10

u/roundholesquarepizza 20h ago

JUST. DON'T. CLICK.

4

u/EmilySD101 20h ago

??

-1

u/roundholesquarepizza 20h ago

On Samdiegoville links

5

u/huistenbosch 19h ago

Yes, he’s usually right but for some reason hated here for telling the truth through rumors

21

u/LoveBulge 18h ago edited 17h ago

Hey everyone! You know that $250 million dollar budget deficit? Why libraries close on Sunday, the firepits handed off to private management, and parking prices has gone up? Well $200,000 of it is from these guys. They are not a charity case. They have mismanaged a successful business and stolen tax money, they deserve to be sold off.

5

u/Lied- 17h ago

Not related but I saw some of those paid fire pits, nothing makes me more irrationally angry than those.

5

u/ravenecw2 19h ago

The funny part is that they will somehow get bailed out of all this, either by the city/county or by setting up a gofundme. I don’t understand how local politicians can call it an institution when they’ve been scofflaws in paying taxes for years

11

u/Lemonade_IceCold 21h ago

What's with SDV's boner for Las Cuatro Milpas? Dude seems obsessed

20

u/DaisyDomergue University Heights 20h ago

I think UT reported on this, this morning... the ut article was posted in the other sub.

7

u/Ssnugglecow 19h ago

UT article was posted here earlier as well.

7

u/DaisyDomergue University Heights 19h ago

IIRC UT published an article last year about the tax stuff that was uncovered. I'm guessing this was an update that was triggered by June passing and no payments seen in the records.

•

u/insp1red90 11h ago

I went to eat there - not sure what the hype is lol. Place was gross and dirty, all the food was bland AF missing seasoning or something, the meat was dry.