Lowndes County is hoping to recover more than $400,000 in owed ad valorem taxes from three companies.
The board of supervisors granted permission to Tax Assessor Greg Andrews on Monday to pursue the taxes, which are owed by KiOR, CalStar and Southern Wood Fiber.
Together, the companies owe $411,833 in ad valorem taxes for 2015.
Andrews said he’s spoken to Mississippi Auditor Stacey Pickering about the matter, and has been instructed to withhold the properties from the county’s tax sale at the end of the month. Delinquent taxes are put up for sale in the last week in August.
“What I’m doing with (KiOR and CalStar’s property) is exactly what the state auditor’s office said to do,” Andrews said. “That is not sell either one of these properties at the tax sale on Aug. 29, but advertise them like they’re going to be sold, mark them as insolvent and pursue the companies.”
Lowndes County Administrator Ralph Billingsley said it’s not abnormal for the county to have similar cases as the annual tax sale approaches. However, he said the amount of the owed taxes — especially the nearly $300,000 owed by KiOR — is rare.
“You’ve got X number of properties that owe taxes every year and sometimes you have entities in similar situations like this or various bankruptcies or stuff like that,” Billingsley said. “I wouldn’t say it’s unusual — in fact I’d say it’s normal to have some. The magnitude of KiOR — the size makes it unusual.”
KiOR
On Thursday, Andrews told The Dispatch that KiOR owes $296,594 in property taxes on its now-defunct fuel processing plant on The Island in Columbus.
The company built the $200 million facility with hopes of converting wood chips into fuel. The plant has not operated since 2013.
KiOR Incorporated, which is based out of Houston, Texas, filed for bankruptcy in 2014. However, Andrews said the company’s Mississippi assets were never in bankruptcy. The plant was ultimately sold to Georgia Renewable Power in October 2015, but Andrews said the company still owes property taxes for 2015.
KiOR owed Lowndes County about $1.1 million in property taxes for 2014. Those taxes were paid, Andrews said, when the company’s equipment was purchased for $3.32 million in October.
At the time, some of that money was split between payments to the county and the Mississippi Development Authority.
Some of the money to MDA was used to repay a portion of a $79 million loan, though Andrews said KiOR still owes the state about $69 million.
“The 2014 taxes are current,” he said. “The problem is nobody ever discussed the 2015 taxes.”
KiOR owned the plant site and its equipment on Jan. 1, 2015. Andrews said during his discussions with Pickering, he was told that, because KiOR owned the property at that time, state law mandates it owed the taxes for that year.
With taxes still owed, Andrews will said he has emailed and sent certified mail to KiOR — which has rebranded as Inaeris Technologies since its bankruptcy — seeking the money.
CalStar
Andrews said CalStar owes the county $40,285 in back taxes.
The eco-friendly brick and masonry manufacturer entered a lease agreement with the county in September 2013 for a building in the Golden Triangle Industrial Park off of Highway 82. Production at the facility started in 2014 and ended Oct. 2, 2015.
The building, which the county owns, has since been leased to Agracel.
However, Andrews said CalStar has paid personal property taxes for 2015, but has not paid its real estate taxes.
Andrews said Square 1 Bank, based in Durham, North Carolina, was the lender for CalStar’s lease. He said the bank also sold the equipment in the former facility after it ceased operation.
He said he did not know how much revenue the sale of CalStar’s equipment generated. A Square 1 representative declined to comment on Wednesday.
Southern Wood Fiber
Southern Wood Fiber, which operated a wood chipper on The Island near the KiOR plant, still owes $74,954, Andrews said. About $823 of that is owed to the chancery court.
Andrews said the county has notified the company the money needs to be paid by Aug. 26.
However, he said Independent Bank will oversee a sale of the company’s equipment on Monday.
“The county wants to be made whole on proceeds from the sale of that equipment,” Andrews said.
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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