Restaurant owner charged with failure to provide state sales tax receipts

MILL HALL, PA – Fay Courter, 52, the longtime owner of the Cottage Family Restaurant in Porter Township, has been charged by the state attorney general’s office with failure to remit more than $80,000 in state sales tax receipts.

Courter was arrested in mid-May and appeared before Mill Hall District Judge John Maggs and was released on $2,500 bail. She is scheduled for an initial appearance in Clinton County Court on June 27. The state alleges she failed to provide the state with state sales tax money dating to 2018, despite repeated efforts for her to comply. In all she faces 25 counts of theft by failure to make required disposition of funds.

According to special agent Keith Robb, Courter did not pay the taxes even though she told investigators the restaurant and related businesses were doing well. Information from the state said they approached her in October of 2021. At that time, the complaint said, she signed an Act 46 Surrender Letter which outlined the taxes for which she was responsible. A payment plan was set up but the bulk of owed taxes remained outstanding, according to authorities.