Boulder Pho renewed but must check in monthly for six months after sales‑tax lapse

Chair Leah Roberts and city licensing staff pressed the owner of Boulder Pho to explain months of missed communications and overdue sales‑tax filings during a continued renewal hearing on March 18.

Penelope Rhodes of the City of Boulder’s licensing team told the Authority that Boulder Pho was “not in good standing with sales tax” but that the business was working with staff and accounting support to remedy missing filings. Owner Duy Nguyen said his accountant had been hospitalized, some mailed payments had bounced and that “90 to 95% of the balance” should be resolved within days. He also said he would update the restaurant’s contact information with the city and attend to remaining filings promptly.

Roberts and other board members said the city had spent significant staff time attempting to get a response and wanted guarantees that the business would stop repeating missed communications. Roberts asked how the owner would prevent a recurrence; Nguyen said he would update his contact details, bring missing documents to the sales‑tax office and “communicate more with the people from the office.”

Licensing staff said past promises had not all been kept; Rhodes said she could not yet express confidence that the business would follow through based on prior history. After board discussion, Roberts moved to renew the license with conditions: Boulder Pho must appear for administrative check‑ins with licensing staff for the next six months, and the board will consider suspension if the licensee is not in good standing or fails to communicate. Member Ginger Barnes seconded the motion and the Authority approved it.

What happens next: The board will expect the licensee to resolve outstanding filings quickly and to appear monthly for check‑ins for six months. Staff will notify the licensee of scheduling and follow up if filings remain incomplete. The Authority said explicit suspension would be considered if the licensee is not in compliance at subsequent check‑ins.

Quote highlights

Penelope Rhodes, City of Boulder licensing staff: “At this time, I cannot say that Boulder Pho is in good standing with sales tax. We’re still missing a couple of items, but they are working on it.”

Duy Nguyen, applicant: “I… I resubmit that, I already send that over to my accountant, so he should… he should be taking care of everything no later than the next couple days.”

Leah Roberts, Chair: “If he is not in good standing and not communicating, then at that point we will be considering a suspension.”

Provenance

Topic intro: SEG 075 Topic finish: SEG 264

Speakers (attributed in article)

Leah Roberts — Chair, Beverage Licensing Authority (first appears: SEG 012) Penelope Rhodes — City of Boulder licensing staff (first appears: SEG 118) Duy Nguyen — Licensee / applicant (first appears: SEG 083) Ginger Barnes — Member, Beverage Licensing Authority (first appears: SEG 015) Lanse Crane — Member, Beverage Licensing Authority (first appears: SEG 017)

Authorities cited

{ "type":"policy","name":"Boulder Revised Code: rules of decorum and licensing procedures","referenced_by":["SEG 025","SEG 100"] }

Actions

[{"kind":"motion","motion":"Renew hotel‑restaurant liquor license for Boulder Pho with condition that the licensee appear for monthly check‑ins for six months; consider suspension if not in good standing or not communicating","mover":"Leah Roberts","second":"Ginger Barnes","vote_record":[{"member":"Leah Roberts","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Ginger Barnes","vote":"yes"},{"member":"Lanse Crane","vote":"yes"}],"tally":{"yes":3,"no":0,"abstain":0},"outcome":"approved","notes":"Licensee must show up for check‑ins monthly for six months; suspension will be considered if noncompliant."}]

Clarifying details

[{"category":"sales_tax","detail":"Status of sales‑tax filings for Boulder Pho","value":"not specified","approximate":false,"source_speaker":"Penelope Rhodes"},{"category":"compliance_check","detail":"Board required six monthly check‑ins; suspension possible if not compliant","detail2":"check‑ins scheduled administratively by staff","source_speaker":"Leah Roberts"}]

Topics and scoring

[{"name":"licensing","justification":"Primary subject is a liquor‑license renewal and compliance","scoring":{"topic_relevance":1.00,"depth_score":0.65,"opinionatedness":0.00,"controversy":0.50,"civic_salience":0.70,"impactfulness":0.40,"geo_relevance":1.00}}]

Highlights

[{"block_id_start":"SEG 118","block_id_end":"SEG 121","title":"City says Boulder Pho not in good standing","summary":"Licensing staff told the Authority the restaurant was not in good standing with sales tax but was working with the office to resolve missing items.","quote":"At this time, I cannot say that Boulder Pho is in good standing with sales tax. We're still missing a couple of items, but they are working on it.","confidence":0.94},{"block_id_start":"SEG 181","block_id_end":"SEG 186","title":"Owner promises fix","summary":"Applicant told the board his accountant would resolve the outstanding items within days and that he would update contact information to prevent future missed communications.","quote":"I will definitely update the new email and the new phone number... I will definitely, within this week, take care of the rest of it.","confidence":0.92}]

Claims matrix

[{"speaker":"Penelope Rhodes","speaker_role":"City licensing staff","claim":"Boulder Pho is not in good standing with sales tax","claim_type":"assertion","target":"Boulder Pho","target_type":"organization","status":"substantiated_in_hearing","response":"Applicant said most missing filings had been submitted and that his accountant would resolve remaining items","response_speaker":"Duy Nguyen","transcript_segments":[{"block_id_start":"SEG 118","block_id_end":"SEG 121","evidence_excerpt":"At this time, I cannot say that Boulder Pho is in good standing with sales tax..."}]},{"speaker":"Duy Nguyen","speaker_role":"applicant","claim":"90 to 95% of the balance should be resolved and remaining filings will be submitted within days","claim_type":"assertion","target":"sales tax filings","target_type":"other","status":"unresolved_in_hearing","response":"Board required monthly check‑ins and reserved suspension if not compliant","response_speaker":"Leah Roberts","transcript_segments":[{"block_id_start":"SEG 131","block_id_end":"SEG 133","evidence_excerpt":"This morning should be taken care of, like, 90 to 95% of the balance already."}],"notes":"City did not provide an exact dollar figure in the hearing."}]

Searchable_tags":["Boulder","liquor_license","sales_tax","Boulder Pho"],"provenance": {"transcript_segments":[{"block_id_start":"SEG 075","block_id_end":"SEG 264","evidence_excerpt":"Continued public hearing and consideration... Boulder Pho... not in good standing with sales tax"}]}