(Commissioner Eron Chek voted against the Payment in Lieu of Taxes agreement between Hancock County and NUCOR. The agreement passed two to one. She provides her opinion on the agreement in this article.)
Thinking about our Value
Hancock is the smallest county in WV. 88 square miles precisely, why are we giving the farm away for free? The EDA of WV offered NUCOR (and the commission approved 2-1) a 30-year tax free lease for an unlimited amount of our land treating it like it has no value, and not understanding the effects of the economic strategy of our county. Other businesses pay full ticket price, I know many people who pay more taxes for their home compared to the tax bill that NUCOR will pay according to this agreement. How will citizens ever see tax cuts when businesses have 30-year tax free leases with the state?
With only 88 square miles to work with, we need to be smart and strategic when approving these deals that are negotiated 200 miles away from here.
What we have to offer is river transportation, water, beautiful land rich with natural resources, and safe communities. By exempting it from taxes, we are saying “We don’t think we have much to offer, so please come, make yourself at home. Also, no need to contribute to the resources that keep our communities safe, our volunteers and response teams will pay their taxes, so you don’t have to.”
The NUCOR site in Hancock County is valuable to them, they will use that site to pull coils from barges and put them on our roads to send them out all over the northeastern part of the continent. They will not pay taxes on the inventory they transport through the site and they won’t tell us how many jobs they will create. I want to remind people that Cleveland Cliffs has paid over $3Million in taxes, the tax on the currently owned raw land purchased by NUCOR is $75,000 according to the $12,000,000.00 purchase price. I have a hunch they could afford their tax bill, 30 years is too long to be exempt.
Eron Chek Hancock County Commissioner
