BOARDMAN — The saga of the Southern Park Mall’s property taxes is over, at least for now.

Mahoning County Treasurer Dan Yemma confirmed Monday that mall owner Kohan Retail Investment Group paid the entirety of its delinquent 2024 property taxes by bank wire Friday afternoon. Yemma said the $1,063,789.40 payment included $119,454.14 in penalties and interest.

“On Wednesday of last week, I received a call from the ownership group, and I sent them the tax bill for each of the parcels, showing the current amount due, and our bank wire instructions,” Yemma said. “They indicated that they wanted to pay, and I basically said I’ve seen this movie before. So I requested that the payment be wired or sent as a cashier’s check in overnight mail.

They wired the full amount due later on Friday afternoon.”

Yemma said that the funds must be available in the payor’s account before their bank will authorize a wire transfer. He said Kohan’s previous failed payments came as e-checks, which are the same as personal checks and can bounce, which they did.

Kohan bought the mall Dec. 23, 2024, from Simon Property Group for $24,100,000. As of Thursday, the Mahoning County Auditor’s website showed that Kohan owed at least $937,840 for 2024.

The treasurer’s office last week said Kohan sent a check June 13 for first-half property taxes — which total $437,834.11 — in the amount of $505,675.49, and that check was returned. Again on June 30, Kohan sent a payment for first-half taxes, which may also have included a partial penalty payment, in the amount of $525,689.63. That check also was returned. On July 3, Kohan sent another check for $495,125.23, which again was returned.

On Dec. 16, Boardman Township trustees announced that they, along with U.S. Rep. Michael Rulli, R-Salem; state Sen. Al Cutrona, R-Canfield; and state Rep. Tex Fischer, R-Boardman, sent a letter to Mahoning County Prosecutor Lynn Maro’s office for review, on its way to Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost’s office, requesting Yost formally investigate Kohan’s bad checks.

The letter states that officials believe it is more than a bookkeeping error “but rather a pattern of deceptive practices or even fraud.”

“If Kohan is representing to creditors, municipalities, or investors that it is meeting its tax obligations while failing to do so, that may constitute a violation of state consumer protection laws, unfair business practices, or even criminal misconduct,” the letter stated.

Trustee Steve Yacovone said the letter to Yost’s office might not be necessary now, but they have not made a final decision. He said he will reach out to Maro’s office to see what they think is best. For now, he and his fellow trustees are glad the matter of last year’s taxes has been settled.

“That’s what we wanted from the beginning, so we’re very happy that the taxes have been paid.

We’d like to have a relationship with the new manager, and we’d like to do whatever we can as a township to help the mall succeed,” he said. “I asked our administrator to reach out and let him know we’d like to meet and talk. Our role is limited with private business, but if there is anything we can do to build or rebuild that relationship, we’re willing to do that.”

On Friday, Kohan announced it has hired a new manager for Southern Park Mall, Boardman resident Bill McClure.

It also announced the payment of the tax bill in that news release.

Yemma said he is glad the matter is settled for now, but is still wary of Kohan.

“I can’t help but feel there is some reason, some business reason, they decided to pay this now. We haven’t been able to get anyone on the phone, they haven’t responded to anybody, and all of a sudden they contacted us and it seemed like there was some sense of urgency that they wanted to get it paid,” he said.

While grateful the debt was being settled, Yemma still took a hard line with Kohan.

“They asked me ‘is there any way we can talk about a refund of penalties and interest?’ and I said no, and they didn’t push the issue,” he said.

Kohan’s first-half taxes for 2025 are due in March. As to whether the company will have trouble paying on time, Yemma is taking a wait-and-see approach.

“I don’t have expectations either way; I would certainly hope not,” he said.

For the seven parcels that comprise the mall property Kohan owns, the bill for 2024 was roughly $472,000, Yemma said. He said the 2025 tax bill should not be much different, but those amounts are not certified until the beginning of the year.