Resolute Forest Products asks Ontario assessment board to lower property value of its Thunder Bay pulp and paper mill to C$29M from current C$72M, resulting in 60% tax reduction; June hearing tentatively scheduled

Kendall Sinclair

LOS ANGELES , April 9, 2013 (Industry Intelligence Inc.) – Resolute Forest Products Inc. has asked an Ontario assessment board to lower the property value of its Thunder Bay pulp and paper mill to C$29 million from the current C$72 million, resulting in a 60% tax reduction, CBC reported April 9.

If successful, the request would make the cut retroactive to 2009 and allow the mill to pay C$1.8 million less each year in taxes, according to the city manager.

Resolute has appealed for a tax reduction nearly every year; however, the reduction it has requested this year was larger than that of previous appeals, CBC reported.

Other paper companies have been successful in similar reassessments of their mills, including Domtar Inc. whose Dryden, Ontario, mill received a 72% drop in its value to C$14 million from C$50 million, ForestTalk.com reported Feb. 5.

Another Domtar mill, located in Espanola, also received a reassessment that resulted in the community having to repay Domtar C$4 million, The Canadian Press reported March 4.

A tentative hearing is scheduled with Ontario’s Assessment Review Board for June.

City Manager Tim Commisso said if the request is granted, Thunder Bay could pay back more than C$7 million. While the municipality has a C$12 million reserve fund, it is used to address all tax changes and not only the mill’s, he added.

The mill has an annual production capacity of 566,000 tonnes and produces market pulp, newsprint and commercial printing papers, according to the company's website.
 
The primary source of this article is CBC News, Toronto, Ontario, on April 9, 2013.

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