Marquette County has finally hammered out a deal with iron giant Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. over a contentious $50 million in back taxes on its dormant Upper Peninsula ore mine, Detroit News reported. After a seven-year-long standoff filled with litigation costs nearing a million bucks, the company and county officials struck an agreement aimed at providing tax stability through 2032, although the agreement's details are still under wraps.
The saga unfolded at the idled Empire Mine near Negaunee, with Cleveland-Cliffs, North America's behemoth in flat-rolled steel manufacturing, failing to pay up since 2018, except for a one-time payment of about $13 million in 2021—a fee they apparently coughed up by mistake due to a lapse in their appeals process. Caught in a bind between the looming threat of job losses and further escalation in court, the settlement aims to prevent the potential closure of another mine and end the expensive legal back-and-forth, according to Detroit News.
The financial strain rained down hard on local townships. Over at Tilden Township, disillusionment with the steel company's tactics was palpable. Township clerk Debbie Pellow voiced disappointment with Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves for his heavy-handed approach, suggesting the very livelihood of local communities was leveraged to push through the settlement. "He pretty much said there will be layoffs and there will be closures if you don’t go along with this deal," she told Detroit News.
Rural townships have been feeling the squeeze. The deficit from unpaid taxes has left Richmond and Tilden Townships out over $2.9 million. The townships even considered seizing mine property to clear the debt, as reported by upmatters.com. The unpaid pile has cornered communities into cutting essential services like EMS and municipal waste disposal, with local residents facing higher taxes to cover the shortfall. "If Cliffs is successful in avoiding its tax burden for the Empire Mine, the Tilden Mine may be next," Pellow, a former member of Michigan’s Mining Future Committee, revealed. Marquette County Board Chair Joe Derocha, echoing the gravity of the situation, said, "I am no longer interested in spending other people’s tax money to litigate this issue," in an interview with uppermichiganssource.com.
The tax saga exemplified the tense tug-of-war between public interest and corporate bottom lines. As Cleveland-Cliffs raked in a staggering $22 billion last year, local communities were left scrambling to fund basic services. Yet with the settlement in sight, Marquette County and the affected townships hope for a return to fiscal normalcy, avoiding further slashing of public services. Cleveland-Cliffs did not immediately return a call for comment, and the final resolution awaits a detailed public reveal.
