NEW RICHMOND, Ohio — Clermont County communities and schools will conduct their own appraisal of the W.H. Zimmer coal plant to stem the potential loss of millions in property tax payback if it is devalued.
Texas-based Vistra Corp. is challenging the county auditor’s $140 million property valuation of the plant and surrounding land, arguing that it is worth 80 percent less – or $28.5 million. A hearing is set before the Ohio Board of Tax Appeals in Columbus on July 26.
If Vistra wins its appeal, some public entities could be forced to repay the more than $4 million in tax revenue they received over the past two years.
The village of Moscow, Monroe and Washington townships, county libraries, Grant Career Center, and Clermont County could be substantially impacted, but none as much as New Richmond schools which may face a $2.5-million payback.
“We are going to keep fighting until we can’t fight anymore,” said New Richmond Exempted Village School District Superintendent Tracey Miller.
The district was forced to close an elementary school, cut staff and sell buildings to dig out of a $4 million hole after Duke Energy closed the Walter H. Beckjord plant in 2014.
New Richmond voters passed a 9.4-mill operating levy in April 2021 to help bridge the loss of the Beckjord coal plant revenue – its first levy since 1977.
Now, with Zimmer’s imminent closure, the school district is facing another deep budget loss. It collects $3.5 million a year in Zimmer tax revenue, which is 10 to 15 percent of its budget.
“Whatever so-called fat there was before, its gone,” Miller said. “Every area has been reduced: Teaching. Class size. Bus drivers. Administrative. Everything has been reduced. We’re about as low as you can go.”
For decades, Clermont County was flush with tax revenue from these two coal power plantsperched along the Ohio River. It paved roads, built new fire stations and schools, opened a community center, and replaced household septic tanks with municipally treated water.
But the last of that coal revenue is evaporating much sooner than anticipated. Vistra Corp. announced last July that it would close Zimmer five years early, by May 31, 2022.
That caught school and community officials by surprise. Then months later they learned that Vistra was seeking a deep devaluation on the Zimmer property.
“Our forecast for the next few years, it’s pretty dire,” said Matthew Prichard, treasurer of New Richmond schools, who said after this year the district will be operating on a $2- to $3-million deficit each year.
On the advice of the school board attorney, Miller said the district plans to fight Zimmer’s devaluation and hire an independent appraiser. That cost will be shared with the six other entities which also face potential tax paybacks.
“Grant Career Center is working in concert with the New Richmond Exempted Village School District and other local governments to navigate the turbulent waters of the taxation process,” said Grant superintendent Mike Parry. “If the Zimmer plant is devalued to the amount proposed, GCC would have to pay $366,365 back.”
Each year an operational Zimmer generates more than $500,000 for the Grant Career Center, which is 8 percent of its operating budget. That revenue will disappear when the plant closes unless the site is redeveloped.
“Grant Career Center has been taking steps for the past several years in reaction to the closure of the Beckjord and Zimmer power plants,” Parry said. “We have taken steps to reduce our full-time staff from 57 to 48. We have partnered with other districts -- Southern Hills Career Technical Center for Adult Education Programming, Clermont Northeastern for food service -- to gain efficiencies and decrease costs.”
But Vistra executives insist the Zimmer plant’s market value has been falling for several years as the plant struggled financially, with no corresponding drop in property tax value.
“Our goal is fair value of the plant. As applied by law. And that’s fair for every taxpayer,” Brad Watson, Vistra’s senior director of community engagement, at a meeting with Clermont officials on March 29.
Tax revenue was the most controversial, and most questioned topic at the near 90-minute meeting, with officials insisting the Zimmer plant should have some tax value even after it closed, and Watson saying that it didn’t.
“The values should be driven by what fair market value is and not what the county taxing authority wants,” Watson said. “If there is a potential buyer out there willing to buy … an old plant that is losing money, we’d love to talk to that buyer.”
Vistra hopes to redevelop the site for battery storage but that won’t provide the same number of jobs or tax revenue that the coal plant did.
Vistra is also hoping to resolve the potential tax repayment issue with a multi-year tax agreement with New Richmond schools.
But Prichard said school officials and Vistra are still “pretty far apart,” on a deal.
After Zimmer is decommissioned, Vistra may transfer land and pay another company to assume liability and cleanup, Watson said.
“Our view is that after retirement, the value goes to zero,” Watson said.
