ISG WARREN Commissioners pass tax incentives

A 100 percent tax abatement was granted for work on coke ovens.
WARREN -- The 100 percent tax abatement for ISG Warren Inc.'s refurbishing of coke ovens is on paper for 15 years, but in reality the work and financial benefits from the project will last much longer, officials said.
Trumbull County commissioners approved the tax abatement Monday for International Steel Group's property at 2234 Main Ave. S.W.
Warren City Schools and Warren Township also have approved the abatement.
The project cost is $14.5 million to $19 million, according to documents filed with the Trumbull County Planning Commission.
However, work can be done only one-at-a-time on the majority of the facility's 85 coke ovens, county Planner Mark Zigmont said.
Because of the staggered nature of the work, the life of the abatement could be as long as 25 years (each improvement, each oven, gets a 15-year tax break) depending on when the last ovens are done.
Each oven and those around it must first be cooled before the work can begin.
Employees
The work will help strengthen the jobs of ISG Warren's 139 full-time employees.
The amount of annual payroll relating to job retention from the project is about $8.7 million over the life of the abatement, the company has told the county.
The oven project also will benefit the relationship the coke plant has with neighboring WCI Steel, said Jeffrey Foster, ISG Warren's general manager.
WCI uses a byproduct of coke-making, coke oven gas. In return WCI exchanges services such as water, steam and rail.
"This is important to our county," Commissioner Daniel Polivka said.
Approval
The schools and township, meanwhile, in approving the 100 percent abatement have passed a "payment in lieu of taxes" from ISG on the new work. The schools will receive $203,774 a year, and the township will see $188,712 annually, according to a chart on file with the county.
"It was based on what taxes would have been paid, based on the dollars we spend each year on this project," Foster said.
Most of ISG Warren's investment will be for machinery and equipment at $13 million to $16 million. Also planned is $500,000 in new construction and $500,000 in improvements to buildings. Inventory would range from $500,000 to $2 million, the county's documents show.
International Steel Group Inc. is one of the largest steel producers in North America, producing a variety of products for the automotive, construction, pipe and tube, appliance, container and machinery markets.