House OKs ed bill as tempers erupt|[3/10/06]

Published 12:00 am Friday, March 10, 2006

Seeking guidance on how to clear more than $400,000 in uncollected property taxes on the former Vicksburg Chemical site, the Warren County Board of Supervisors will consult with the state Tax Commission.

During an informal meeting Thursday, supervisors heard from attorneys with the groups wanting to redevelop the site for a golf course and boutique shopping center.

Property taxes went uncollected for four and a half years on the property, abandoned by Vicksburg Chemical in 2002 after the company filed for bankruptcy.

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Taxes assessed for 2000 to 2003 were forgiven when the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York allowed the company to abandon the site to the ownership of the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality.

However, taxes for 2004 and 2005, totaling $218,490 and $221,031 respectively, remain due.

R. Wilson Montjoy II and Trudy Fisher, legal counsel for Silver Tip and Harcross Chemical, appeared before supervisors twice in 2004 on the same topic when Harcross was attempting to acquire the property. They returned Thursday, asking the same question.

District 5 Supervisor Richard George reminded them that the county does not have the authority to cancel the debt and only state authorities &#8220would be the ones able to issue the relief.’.

&#8220Whoever had to protest the assessed value had to be the owner,” George said.

The property, 480 acres on both sides of Warrenton Road south of the river bridges near Rifle Range Road and U.S. 61 South, was not titled to MDEQ despite of the agency’s controlling authority. If it were held by a government agency, it would have been tax exempt.

Assessed values for 2005 are not due to be certified until August, but those for 2004 are the tax figures at issue.

In December, MDEQ signed an agreement for Silver Tip, a company operated by Colorado-based developer Paul Bunge, to spend $8 million to clean up the abandoned Vicksburg Chemical site.

The city board declared the site a redevelopment area Tuesday to help the developer take advantage of incentives created by the state to save city and state government from cleanup costs.

A tentative closing date of March 17 has been set for the purchase of the property.

In other business, county administrator John Smith told the board he is still working on a plan to revise the county’s policy for advertising in organizational publications.

Language must be cleared up to define what kind of advertising the county will buy and who the intended audience is, Smith said. Supervisors routinely receive requests to advertise in program books prepared for club and community events.