MARQUETTE, MI— Cleveland-Cliffs, Incorporated has agreed to a tax settlement deal with four Marquette County entities.
In a press release last week, officials said CCI owed the County more than $50 million in delinquent real and personal property taxes. The amount included $2.9 million in personal property taxes owed to Richmond and Tilden Townships. Officials said Cliffs also owed real property taxes to the City of Negaunee.
In 2016, Cliffs idled the Empire Mine but said minable ore reserves still existed at the site. The company later told tax officials the ore cannot be mined and diminished the amount of taxes owed by valuing the mine only for its surface and land.
The County has been fighting the matter in court since 2018.
Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves asked to meet with Marquette County officials after the press release was issued. County Commissioners Joe Derocha and Stephen Adamini went to Cleveland to speak with him.
On Friday, officials issued another release saying CCI had reached a settlement with the County, Richmond and Tilden Townships, and the City of Negaunee. It said the settlement met Marquette County’s three objectives: to arrive at a tax payment settlement, avert job layoffs and potential mine closure, and to end the costly ongoing litigation.
The settlement has been ratified by all four municipal taxing units.
