EAST CHICAGO | Lake County and city officials are prepared to give the world's largest steel maker $16 million to settle a dispute over its share of the local tax burden dating back to the early 1990s.
"It's a good deal," Lake County Assessor Paul Karras said Tuesday of the proposed agreement with ArcelorMittal.
Under the plan, the county would return taxes the corporation paid between 1995 and 2005 on more than 130 parcels of real estate and heavy machinery used in its steel mill and research and development facilities. The county would pay the money in the form of credits that would reduce the steel maker's taxes for the next four years.
The Indiana Tax Court had earlier ruled the steelmaker was overbilled by the county. Karras said the county could have been forced to refund four times that amount, but negotiations by Mayor George Pabey and county officials succeeded in leading to the smaller sum.
ArcelorMittal spokesman David Allen said Tuesday he couldn't comment on the matter.
The agreement must still be signed by city and county officials before it is submitted to the Indiana Tax Court to dismiss all pending litigation. It doesn't cover a dispute of ArcelorMittal's 2006 tax bill.
County Commissioner Gerry Scheub, D-Schererville, said Tuesday he is happy to endorse the settlement but disappointed the county has to pay any money back.
"We have a problem with big industry picking up what we believe is their share, so paying this is just a shame to me," Scheub said.
County officials regularly spar with heavy industry regarding property values for taxing purposes.
Steel mills and the BP Whiting refinery argue that in years past the companies were forced to shoulder too much of the tax burden by local assessors to reduce homeowners' tax bills and curry favor with voters.
State officials have sided with industry captains. The Indiana General Assembly responded by shifting nearly hundreds of millions of dollars in assessed value from U.S. Steel Corp., ArcelorMittal and BP.
Local officials believe the Legislature went too far and have gone to court to reverse that trend.
Karras said ArcelorMittal won rulings in its favor for tax years beginning in 1993, and attorneys for the county recommended settling remaining claims.
