Politics & Government

Late $1.5 Million Tax Payment To School May Cause a Headache, But No $ Loss

Power Plant has already paid taxes to county auditor which school district is hoping to apply to this year's budget.

A late tax payment by NRG/GenOn due to the Avon Lake School District may cause a few headaches, but no actual financial loss to the district.

Avon Lake School District treasurer Autumn Streng said the company that runs the power plant, NRG, made a late $1.5 million payment to the Lorain County Auditor’s Office, but it has not yet been forwarded to the district. The money is owed from public utilities personal property and tangible personal property taxes.

“When we got final tax settlement on March 21, I received the final number and began posting,” Streng said. “Then I realized I was short by a about a million (dollars). I asked the county auditor who said (NRG) paid their taxes, but paid them late.” That money has not yet been forwarded to the school district.

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And while the $1.5 million will eventually be paid to the school district, it may come too late to be applied to the 2013 Fiscal Year budget.

Streng said the district has requested an advance of $1.5 million from the auditor and she is “crossing her fingers” they release the money soon so it can be applied to this year’s school budget. Otherwise, if the money comes after June, it will be applied to the 2014 Fiscal Year budget.

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And that could cause a problem with exactly what the public sees.

“We’ve been working so hard to educate the community about revenue loss it will look like we have over $4 million for the (2014) year,” Streng said.  “We’re trying to communicate a revenue loss. Now you’re showing in (Fiscal Year) 2014 you have more than $4 million in tangible money. We don’t want to complicate our situation with voters.”

Should the money be delayed, the Fiscal Year 2014 budget would show an additional million plus in the budget, but the public may not realize this year’s budget will show the million plus dollar loss.

A representative for NRG did not respond to a request for comment prior to publication. NRG is scheduled to be closed down in 2015.


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