Mills' buyer seeks $48M in tax breaks
The California investment group looking to buy the two Katahdin Paper mills in northern Maine is seeking $48 million in town tax breaks, a proposal that one town official called "a joke."
Meriturn Partners LLC, which last month signed a letter of intent to buy the mills in Millinocket and East Millinocket, met this week with officials to discuss the deal and requested lowering the mills' tax rates over a 10-year period, according to the Bangor Daily News. The proposal seeks to drop the East Millinocket facility's tax bill from $2.1 million a year to about $46,800, and lower the Millinocket facility's bill from $2.6 million to about $50,000 a year. East Millinocket Board of Selectmen Chairman Mark Scally told the paper the initial offer "would make a total mockery of our property tax system," and he and other officials said the breaks would force them to lay off town employees and reduce services. Meriturn also proposed buying the mills from current owner Brookfield Asset Management for $1. Talks between the company and the towns will continue next week, and the deadline for completing the deal is April 29, according to the paper.
Town officials expressed hope that the state could help offset the loss of revenues, but Dan Demeritt, Gov. Paul LePage's spokesman, told the paper the state "has a budget crisis of its own to deal with" and would decline to get involved in a local tax issue. The state plans to provide $10 million to help fund clean-up of a landfill in East Millinocket used by the mills.
On Feb. 22, Brookfield Asset Management filed a federal notice to close the East Millinocket mill in 60 days unless the sale goes through. The Millinocket mill has been shuttered since 2008.
Most Recent
Most Recent
Comments