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Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame faces $12K legal bill

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TULSA — Nearly three months after the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame saved itself from near eviction by raising more than $75,000 to pay off long-overdue debts, the struggling Tulsa nonprofit has been hit with another sizable bill — this one for nearly $12,000 in legal expenses.

Tulsa County commissioners voted this week to send the museum an invoice for attorney expenses the county racked up as it attempted to get the hall to pay what it owed in overdue assessments, insurance and utility bills.

The jazz hall finally paid in early October, just as the county threatened to kick it out of the Art Deco-style Union Depot building the museum leases from the county.

Jason McIntosh, the hall's chief executive officer, said he was surprised to see such a large bill, but that the hall plans to pay it once attorneys look over the itemized bill.

Commissioners say the legal services were necessary because the county has a responsibility to taxpayers to make sure the hall paid what it owed. Voters had set aside money under a capital improvement campaign to buy and refurbish the depot building for the jazz hall.

“It's in their rental contract; it's there in black and white,” said Karen Keith, one of three commissioners who serve as trustees of the county's industrial authority, which has oversight over the jazz hall.

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