US Nitrogen Property To Go On County Tax Rolls
Members of the Greeneville-Greene County Industrial Development Board and other community leaders listen Monday as two representatives of US Nitrogen, attorney Michael K. Stagg and plant manager Dylan Charles, both at far right, give a presentation during an IDB meeting at the County Annex.
US Nitrogen should soon be on the Greene County property tax rolls.
Sixteen parcels of land where the Midway facility is located will be conveyed to US Nitrogen by the Greeneville-Greene County Industrial Development Board.
On Jan. 1, 2013, the property was conveyed from US Nitrogen to the IDB as part of a tax abatement program agreed upon before the company located in Greene County.
The 10-year-lease between the IDB and US Nitrogen included a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement, known as a PILOT program, that expired on Jan. 1. The IDB met Monday and members gave tentative approval to the transfer.
IDB attorney Jerry Laughlin will review a proposed lease to be prepared by US Nitrogen attorney Michael Stagg and bring the draft agreement before the IDB at an upcoming meeting for formal approval.
Also approved was a request by US Nitrogen to update a lease agreement in place for the IDB to retain title to three other land parcels that include pipelines feeding water to the Pottertown Road facility from the Nolichucky River. The parcels include a water tank and pumping station.
US Nitrogen will remain responsible for all maintenance, repair, upkeep and indemnification costs connected to the properties.
“All we’re proposing is to keep the status quo,” Stagg said.
US Nitrogen produces liquid ammonium nitrate, a component known as ANSOL used in blasting agents. The company also makes ammonia and nitric acid in order to create ANSOL. It uses a pumping station and two 12-mile-long pipelines to draw water from the Nolichucky River for use in its manufacturing and cooling processes, then discharges water back into the river.
Dylan Charles, US Nitrogen plant manager, told the IDB that capital expenditures at the Midway plant to date total about $469 million. An estimated $1 million a year in property taxes will be paid by US Nitrogen to Greene County once the transfer is formalized.
“It will be deeded back to (US Nitrogen) and go on the tax rolls,” said Greene County Mayor Kevin Morrison, IDB chairman.
Several members of the public who asked questions after the IDB convened were told by Morrison that the meeting was not a public hearing and to refrain.
“It bothers me a little bit that no member of the public is allowed to comment,” IDB board member Ginny Kidwell said.
The Greene County Commission voted in February 2011 to rezone more than 400 acres of land in Midway off Pottertown Road, clearing the way for US Nitrogen to build the plant.
US Nitrogen has paid $1 per year since 2013 to lease the 16-parcel property from the IDB.
The original lease agreement also stipulated that US Nitrogen pay $9,005 per year to the county as part of the PILOT program.
That amount is equal to the total ad valorem tax amount paid to the county on the US Nitrogen property prior to the company’s purchasing it.
Laughlin said in a past interview that temporary tax abatements such as the one offered US Nitrogen are a common economic incentive used by communities to attract manufacturing industries.
US Nitrogen is a subsidiary of Ohio-based Austin Powder Inc.
