NASHUA – The owners of the financially troubled Radisson hotel want a refund on paid property taxes.

Southern New Hampshire Hospitality has filed for a property tax abatement in Hillsborough County Superior Court, seeking an appraisal lower than the $16.13 million assessed by the city of Nashua for 2009.

Filed in September, the court action seeks a “fair” market value of the property, and a refund of some, or all, of the $319,682 Southern New Hampshire Hospitality paid in taxes that year.

The abatement is another legal procedure involving finances of the landmark hotel on 11 Tara Blvd.

The Radisson is in temporary receivership after Southern New Hampshire Hospitality defaulted on its mortgage and temporarily shut down the hotel in late January. A company that specializes in running struggling hotels – Crescent Hotels & Resorts – has been operating the Radisson since February.

The Portsmouth-based Southern New Hampshire Hospitality, as of last month, owed about $20 million on the mortgage.

In its abatement request, the company claims that the 2009 assessment of $16.13 million was “in excess of a just and proportionate valuation,” according to court documents.

Thus, the $319,682 in taxes that Southern New Hampshire Hospitality paid was “illegal,” the abatement request said.

The company asks for a unspecified refund, or the monetary difference of what the court finds to be “unjust.”

The city Board of Assessors previously denied Southern New Hampshire Hospitality’s assessment appeal, the court document said.

Once their appeal is exhausted at the municipal level, property owners can appeal assessments to the state Board of Tax & Land Appeals or superior court.

The city’s assessment of the Radisson property was unchanged in 2010: $16.13 million. Southern New Hampshire Hospitality paid slightly more in taxes that year, $329,027.

In 2008, the city assessed the land and building at $15.15 million. The company paid $265,894 in taxes that year.

Southern New Hampshire Hospitality has paid all its taxes, according to the city tax department.

The future of the Radisson came into doubt this year when Southern New Hampshire Hospitality abruptly shut down the hotel over failed negotiations with its mortgage lender, CADIM Note of Quebec, for a reduced payment plan.

The mortgage hadn’t been paid since December 2009. On Jan. 31, Southern New Hampshire Hospitality forced guests to leave their rooms at midday and told employees to take all of their personal possessions and go home.

The hotel reopened later that week when the company and CADIM Note, reached an agreement in court.

On Feb. 16, Southern New Hampshire Hospitality lost control of the property after threatening to close a second time. A federal judge granted an emergency request by CADIM to hand over operations to Crescent Hotels & Resorts.

Southern New Hampshire Hospitality purchased the hotel in 2007. It was formerly the Sheraton Tara Hotel.

Albert McKeon can be reached at 594-5832 or amckeon@nashuatelegraph.com