Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue's company had its license suspended because of $210 in unpaid state taxes.

As noted yesterday, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate's company, Quail Woods Village, had its business license suspended for five months in 2004.

Her deputy campaign manager, David Kochman, said today that the suspension came about because the real estate development company failed to pay $210 in state franchise taxes in 1996.

That year, Quail Woods Village did not have any income because it did not sell any land. Perdue and her co-owners did not file a tax return, but they still owed a small tax as a company.

They weren't notified about the problem until 2004, however.

"They got the notice, and a short time later, they paid it," he said.

Secretary of State spokesman George Jeter said that such delays, while not typical, have happened. Sometimes they are because of the Department of Revenue and sometimes the Secretary of State's office, he said.

"We hope there aren't that many delays for that long," he said.

The Capital Group was not set up for lobbying.

According to the company's original filing from 1999, it was involved in "right of way acquisition services." The Secretary of State's office found the paperwork at the request of Dome and reposted it this afternoon.

The form, dated July 6, lists lobbyist Don Beason's office and P.O. box. It is signed by his son, Mark. There are four partners, who are not listed.

George Jeter, a spokesman for the secretary's office, said that they do regular sweeps of the hundreds of thousands of active corporations and partnerships looking for missing annual reports. In 2004, they requested The Capital Group file one.

When it had not responded a year later, it was administratively dissolved.

A limited liability partnership is usually set up to protect its owners from lawsuits and other liabilities.

"It is not a criminal offense to keep the company going after you are dissolved but it is opening yourself up to direct personal liability," Jeter explained.

Lobbyists do not have to report when they have signed other contracts with clients.

Under state law, lobbyists must tell the Secretary of State how much they are being paid to argue a special interest's cause before the legislature.

But they do not have to disclose any secondary contracts for political consulting, Web page design or other non-lobbying work.

George Jeter, a spokesman for the secretary's office, said that is not supposed to be a loophole for special interests to compensate lobbyists for their lobbying work beyond the reported amount.

"No matter what ANY such work is called, if the real intent is to compensate the person for lobbying, then it is lobbying and has to be reported," Jeter wrote in an e-mail to Dome.

Any lobbyist signing such a contract could risk an investigation, but until then the Secretary of State would have no record of the payments.

"We do not keep track of such work, since it does not have to be reported," Jeter wrote.

Hat Tip: N.C. Spin