Mill's request for return of overpaid taxes refused
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
The 11th District Court of Appeals has refused a request by the owners of the former RG/WCI steel mill that several Warren-area government entities reimburse $658,316 to $1.2 million in overpaid property taxes from 2001 to 2003.
The higher amount is how much would have been owed if the parties had to pay interest on the overpaid taxes.
If the ruling holds up through any potential appeals, the decision means Warren City Schools won’t have to pay between $359,639 and $655,560; Trumbull County between $93,218 and $169,920; Howland Local Schools between $82,553 and $150,480; Warren Township between $64,317 and $117,240; and Howland Township between $34,890 and $63,600.
Smaller amounts would have been owed by the Trumbull Career and Technical Center, Warren-Trumbull County Public Library, Warren city, and the Howland Township Park District.
The amount the company initially sought was $3,022,499 plus interest, bringing the total to about $4 million.
Trumbull County commissioners hired Atty. Michael Gallo in 2014 to fight the claim, which stemmed from tangible personal-property taxes WCI Steel overpaid.
In 2014, while the appeals case was pending, the parties agreed that the amount owed was $658,316 to $1.2 million.
Adrian Biviano, county auditor, said Tuesday the appeals court decision means, “We were correct in witholding payment. The amount [the company sought] was not correct, and we were correct in that the company doesn’t exist anymore.”
The Ohio Supreme Court said in 2011 that the local government bodies needed to reimburse the owners $3,022,499.
But the mill closed in May 2012, and the owner, BDM Warren Steel Operations, began removing the mill’s buildings in 2013. BDM bought the mill in August 2012 out of bankruptcy for $17 million. The mill was just south of the city, off Pine Avenue in Howland and Warren townships. A small part of it is in the city of Warren.
The decision says WCI “waived and released” its right to receive the tax refund in its bankruptcy filing from 2003, which was completed in 2006. “Under its plan, WCI transferred its assets to a new entity called Reorganized WCI, free and clear of all liens and claims,” the ruling says.