BRISTOL, Va. (WJHL) — The City of Bristol, Virginia Treasurer’s Office released a statement stating a local restaurant, Bloom, owes almost $200,000 in delinquent taxes to the city and that the city’s treasurer has filed a bank lien on the restaurant.

Friday’s statement from Angel Britt explains that the funds in question were not part of Bloom’s revenue for what it charges for meals. Rather, she explained, they are taxes levied on people purchasing goods there that the business is supposed to put aside and submit to the city each month.

Friday’s statement reported since Bloom’s opening at its Virginia location in August 2022, monthly taxes were paid delinquently for four months by the business. Payments then stopped, according to the statement. The last payment from Bloom was reportedly received in February 2023.

Bloom currently owes the City of Bristol, Virginia $195,540 in delinquent taxes, the treasurer’s office stated.

“My office has proposed two separate payment plants to the business and neither payment plan was accepted,” Angel Britt, Master Governmental Treasurer for Bristol, Virginia said in the statement.

“I accept responsibility for everything I owe,” Em Fehr, owner of Bloom, said. “I want to make payment arrangements. I’ve stated that multiple times, but this elected official is closing down my business as she is closing Bloom down because of this.”

Britt’s statement explains that taxes added to the cost of a meal are considered “trust taxes,” that are paid by a customer and held in trust by the business.

“Those taxes are paid by the customer to be remitted to the City on a monthly basis,” the statement says. “In other words, the customer pays those taxes, not the business. Bloom has collected those monies from the customer and has not remitted them to the City.”

Britt noted that collecting such taxes on behalf of Bristol citizens is her “constitutional and statutory obligation.”

Bloom announced on Wednesday that the business will close its doors permanently on May 5.