CCPA Questions Back Taxes Owed on Its Property
EAST LIVERPOOL, Ohio -- Proving nobody is beyond the reach of the tax collector, the Columbiana County Port Authority is paying some back taxes it owes and investigating whether or not other property it owns may be exempt.
The Morning Journal of Lisbon reports that Columbiana County Commissioner Mike Halleck said that the Port Authority owes $706,992 in back taxes. But at last night's monthly board meeting, the port authority's attorney, Timothy Brookes, said the port is questioning whether or not some of the taxed properties actually had exempt status. The port is going through documents dating back to the mid-1990s to determine which of its properties are tax-exempt. The investigation was prompted when the port authority received tax documents on more than 100 parcels of property that were believed to be exempt, including the Leetonia World Trade Park, Brookes said, as well as “certain lots in Wellsville and some property that Marathon is interested in acquiring.” The World Trade Park had achieved exempt status in 1998, he said.
“There are a number that we think are exempt, but aren’t showing up that way,” Brookes said. “There will be others.”
The port authority has been researching for a month and a half, “and we’re still finding stuff,” said its CEO, Tracy Drake.
Drake expects it might take another month until members will have a better idea of what properties are exempt, and then will apply for exemptions accordingly, “And if there’s any leftover, we’ll pay it,” he said.
“We’re going through everything with a fine-tooth comb to see where it stands,” Drake said. “Once we make that determination, we’ll be able to go back and correct the issue.”
In the meantime, the port authority will pay some $64,000 in taxes owed on property in Wellsville, including some parcels related to the sale of the Youngstown & Southern Railroad.
“Simply because those will be up for sale shortly and we don’t want to have a tax issue on anything we’re selling,” Drake explained. Aqua Infrastructure LLC, a subsidiary of Aqua America Inc., expects to pay the port authority $3 million for the 36-mile shortline upon completing its due diligence, which Drake said is moving forward.
In other news, the port authority is weighing two options when it comes to upgrading its rail capacity at the Wellsville Intermodal Facility. The port authority looks to soon have the final paperwork approved for the funds awarded originally through the Ohio Department of Development’s Logistics and Distribution stimulus program. Drake expects to have the expanded rail spur project completed by the end of the year, he said.
The first option is to make use of an existing rail bed connecting Cimbar Performance Mineral, Anchor Drilling Fluids USA and Hilcorp Energy, upon which it would be “fairly easy” to replace the track, Drake said. The port authority is awaiting approval from Hilcorp on that alternative because the rail spur would bisect its 22-acre site at the industrial park.
The second option is to build a new line along the edge of the river inside the existing railroad tracks belonging to Norfolk Southern Railway, Drake said. It would add about 4,000 feet of track, leading from Hilcorp’s site, along the river, under the 60-ton river crane and as far into Wellsville as possible. The rail spur would allow easier transloading of bulk material from barge to rail and truck. Norfolk Southern would lease the property to the port authority, Drake said, estimating the project’s cost could run anywhere from $80,000 to $250,000.
“It was suggested by our operator of the terminal that a long spur along this edge would alleviate a lot of problems by giving a lot of track to work with,” Drake said. “That would probably be three-times as long of a spur, but the intent is to do them both.”
Depending on the final cost of both projects and feedback from the intermodal park’s tenants, the port authority will decide to do one or both of the alternatives. “The more rail capacity you put in, the better off you are up front,” Drake said. The project is in its pre-engineering phase, and “once the terminal customers come to us with their final desires, we’ll reach a final agreement with Norfolk Southern.”
Hilcorp’s project is also moving forward, Drake said. The port authority has been in discussions with the company’s engineers, and he said the company is getting its final layout put together. The first piece of infrastructure will likely be a liquid offloading site for trucks, he said.
“A lot of it has to do with the infrastructure going in, as far as pipelines, taking the liquids and natural gas off the fields,” Drake said.
Hilcorp is analyzing whether to install the infrastructure necessary to move the product to barge to be shipped off to refineries, or to put in a processing facility on the site, Drake said. “They’ve got so many irons in the fire right now.”
Copyright 2013 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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