Editor:
The NEXUS Pipeline has promised Fulton County a $20,902,839 cumulative tax revenue the first five years (www.nexusgastransmission.com/content/economic-benefits).
Members of the Coalition to Reroute Nexus (CoRN) have uncovered the first black mark on this promised windfall from NEXUS.
All along, the NEXUS pipeline route county auditors have been alerted to the fact that NEXUS has not paid its easement conveyance fees.
Ohio state law 319.54 requires county auditors to collect an easement conveyance fee on any easement more than $1,000. The law has been in effect since 2009.
The fee is $3 to $4 per $1,000 of value depending on the county. Ohio receives $1 of every $1,000 leaving the county with the remainder.
So far Fulton, Erie and Medina are not collecting these fees. Many counties are investigating reports of fraudulently under reporting of values.
In Fulton County, the area has become pipeline alley with Rover, NEXUS and Utopia, just to name a few. This could be a loss of tens of thousands of needed tax revenue.
NEXUS alone has 49 easements so far not taxed. Some rumored to be more than $1 million in value, meaning a tax loss of $4,000 on just one easement.
Last year, farmers (including me) saw a doubling of their farm land tax bill. If you don’t pay the tax, you will have late penalties assessed and/or land sold for back taxes.
Why is Fulton county and others not collecting this fee when so many farmers are carrying the increasing tax liability unfairly?
Paul Wohlfarth
Ottawa Lake, Michigan
