COUNTY COMPLETES SEIZURE OF CRANES WORTH MORE THAN $500,000
United Crane defaults on payment plan on delinquent taxes

Houston – June 28, 2005 - Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector Paul Bettencourt announced that his office and other taxing jurisdictions completed the seizure today of three industrial cranes worth more than $500,000 from a local company owing nearly $650,000 to county, city and HISD taxpayers.

“This major seizure of large industrial equipment is yet another example of what happens when a company stops paying their property tax bills over several years,” Bettencourt said.

Officials with Bettencourt’s office, the Precinct One Constable’s Office, the County Attorney’s Office and other agencies seized the cranes from United Crane and United Crane Sales & Leasing Inc., at 5855 Kelley St. in Houston. Bettencourt said the company had defaulted on an earlier payment arrangement with the county’s, city’s and HISD’s delinquent tax attorneys to reimburse taxpayers for more than $641,000 in delinquent taxes owed by the company since 2002.

The cranes will be auctioned to pay off taxes owed to Harris County, the City of Houston, the Houston Independent School District, the Hays school district and the City of Kyle, near San Marcos.

The cranes are being stored until sale at Global Truck Sales, 1600 McCarty St., in Houston.

Mr. Bettencourt will be available to meet with the media this afternoon at Global Truck Sales. The seized cranes will be available for photographs. Please contact Joe Stinebaker in the Tax Office’s Communications Department at 713-368-2318 to set up a time.

More information about two of the three seized cranes can be viewed at www.nasset.com/open/equip/equip_fset.cfm. The reference number is 30788.

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