PORT ANGELES — Clallam County Treasurer Selinda Barkhuis said Wednesday she withdrew the Jan. 9 personal property tax lien she imposed against Nippon Paper Industries USA Inc. after mill Manager Steve Johnson came to her office earlier that morning and gave her two checks totaling $133,142.
The payments were not delinquent. The checks, each for $66,570.73, cover payments for taxes due this year and in 2018, Barkhuis said.
Barkhuis commended Nippon “for proactively paying these advance personal property taxes,” in an email to Port Angeles media and county officials.
A county treasurer may place a lien on personal property “if the tax remains unpaid,” according to the state Department of Revenue, which does not address liens on taxes that are not delinquent.
Barkhuis said in an email that as county treasurer she had the authority to file the lien.
The taxes were due and payable in 2017 and in 2018 “or upon sale of such personal property, whichever comes first,” according to the lien. Personal property includes machinery, equipment, furniture and supplies, according to the state Department of Revenue.
Nippon has been on the market for a buyer since at least July 2016.
Johnson said Wednesday afternoon that there was a “miscommunication” between the county and the Japanese-owned company, which operates an Ediz Hook paper processing plant.
“There is no issue between the county and Nippon Paper,” Johnson said in an email.
“It was merely a miscommunication that has been resolved to the satisfaction of all involved.”
The plant employed 160 as of June 2015 but has refused to release employment figures since then.
Barkhuis publicly disclosed the lien against Nippon at a Clallam County commissioners’ meeting on Tuesday.
“As you know, they have indicated that they are for sale,” Barkhuis told county commissioners as she informed them of the lien.
“And because of some issues I’ve had in collecting earlier property taxes due, I felt that it was necessary to make sure that these taxes are collected.”
“I filed this lien to make sure these taxes are paid.”
PricewaterhouseCoopers Corporate Finance LLC of British Columbia listed the Japanese-owned Ediz Hook mill, which produces telephone-book and operates a biomass cogeneration plant, as an “acquisition opportunity” in a July 2016 flier emailed to the Port of Port Angeles.
Port Executive Director Karen Goschen told the PDN on Aug. 12 that the port was not pursuing ownership.
Johnson was asked Wednesday if an announcement on a sale of the plant is imminent.
“There has not been a sale of the facility, nor is one pending,” he said.
Barkhuis would not be interviewed Wednesday, communicating solely by email and referring to a 2012 state Department of Revenue publication on personal property taxes.
The amount of tax automatically becomes a lien, according to the publication.
“If the tax remains unpaid, the treasurer may place a lien on the owner’s other real and personal property,” it said.
Barkhuis also cited her authority under RCW 84.60.040, which says the following:
“When it becomes necessary, in the opinion of the county treasurer, to charge the tax on personal property against real property, in order that such personal property tax may be collected, such county treasurer shall select for that purpose some particular tract or lots of real property owned by the person owing such personal property tax, and in his or her tax roll and certificate of delinquency shall designate the particular tract or lots of real property against which such personal property tax is charged, and such real property shall be chargeable therewith.”
Nippon may owe more than the $133,142 Johnson paid Wednesday, according to Barkhuis.
Barkhuis, Johnson, county Administrator Jim Jones, Public Works Administrative Director Bob Martin, and a county commissioner will review franchise agreements between the county and Nippon “to determine if there are any amounts due under such agreements,” Barkhuis said Wednesday.
“Since we’re looking [at] a revenue shortfall this year, it is important that we make sure that Nippon or Daishowa, which I think are actually the same entity, settle their business with the county and all of the junior taxing districts before they move on,” she told commissioners Tuesday.
Daishowa merged with Nippon Paper Group in 2003 and became Nippon Paper Industries USA.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
