Cabell County steel plant overpaid nearly $1.5 million in taxes across two years
Commissioners could also do nothing by simply correcting the mistake so it doesn't happen again.
SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): A major Cabell County company has overpaid their taxes to the county over two years, and correcting the mistake is much more than just refunding the money.
Cabell County Commissioners have a tough decision to make regarding Steel of West Virginia. One of the company's buildings was assessed two times, and as a result Steel of West Virginia overpaid $1.4 million in taxes to the county.
'We have asked for a little bit of help and consideration of how we can work together to reclaim property tax that was paid in error,' Steel of West Virginia Controller James Johnson said.
The overpayment was for two years. The question is if it was negligence or poor judgement and how commissioners will deal with the issue.
'I'm not really sure who is to blame because I don't know if you can point a finger at any specific person,' senior tax manager Ellie Moss said.
The impact of the error trickles down to county agencies. County commission allocates money to these groups based on property assessments and the overall county budget. Some of these groups have already spent their money.
'In order for us to be able to look at how we come up with the money that we would lose in tax revenue in the future, it would have to be through our employees, and we don't want to lose employees either,' Cabell County Schools Superintendent Tim Hardesty said.
Commissioners could also do nothing by simply correcting the mistake so it doesn't happen again.
'We have a new business that is coming to town that wants to make a $30 million investment to help us grow jobs here,' Huntington Mayor Patrick Farrell said. 'I think the county and city would find ways to make sure that company could invest that $30 million to be able to group our community with the jobs they provide.'
Earlier this year, Steel of West Virginia announced they were closing their melt shop and 100 employees would lose their jobs. On the other hand, the company plans to invest $30 million to improve rolling lines which would maintain 500 jobs.
Meanwhile, county commission is expected to make a decision sometime after Jan. 1.
Courtesy: www.wchstv.com