Report says tax benefit from mine would be substantial

WILLCOX — A Scottsdale consulting firm, retained by Excelsior Mining Arizona, Inc., has estimated that if the Gunnison Copper Project is approved it will contribute nearly $21.2 million to local school districts during the next 11 years.

In its Feb. 26 report, Elliott D. Pollack and Company cites a valuation forecast generated by Excelsior’s tax consultant, RSM, and the impact of the Safford Mine in neighboring Graham County as the basis for the tax forecast.

“The Gunnison project, set to begin production in 2019, is projected to increase in value substantially each year over the next 10 years,” the report states. “As such, the mine will become a major payer of school district property taxes.”

The Gunnison Copper Project consists of 9,560 acres located between Benson and Willcox. It will incorporate the former Johnson Camp Mine, which was purchased out of bankruptcy in 2015. Excelsior is awaiting a decision by the federal Environmental Protection Agency on its final permit application for the mine, and two permits have already been approved by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.

Contrasting opinions on the project were aired during an EPA public hearing in Dragoon on Feb. 27.

Excelsior, which has its international headquarters in Phoenix, is utilizing in situ mining to inject a weak sulfuric acid solution into bedrock about 600 feet below its property located on both the north and south sides of Interstate 10 east of Benson.

The acid is recovered, and equipment at the Johnson Camp Mine extracts copper from the solution.

“The project is scheduled to begin significant construction this year, with nearly $50 million in capital investment to execute the first phase of production,” the Pollack report says. “The mine life is currently estimated at 24 years.”

Property tax payments to the Cochise Elementary School District, the Benson Unified School District, Cochise College and the Benson STEM Scouts will increase as production at the mine increases, the report says.

“This will create property tax savings for homeowners, businesses, and other property owners in the district,” the report says. “A lower tax burden helps families and businesses save, invest, and spend additional money in their local economy.”

Pollack also points to the impact that the purchase of Johnson Camp Mine had on the Cochise Elementary School District in 2015, noting that the payment of back taxes allowed the district to reduce its property tax rate by 45 percent.

“This benefitted every property owner in the district. Homeowners saved an average of $145 each on their property tax bills that year,” the report says.

In Safford, the impact of a new mine has had a dramatic impact on property values, Pollack says.

The Safford Mine is a combination of open pit mining and leaching with a solution extraction and electrowinning production plant. It began construction and preparations in 2006 and started copper production late in 2007.

By 2010, Pollack reports, locally assessed property increased by about $30 million.

“After 10 years, 2017 school district property tax rates are still 28 percent lower than 2005 rates despite the district’s overall increase in student count and revenue collection,” the report says.

Opponents of the Gunnison Copper Project voiced concerns about the impact of the new mine during the Feb. 27 hearing.

Peter Dronkers, a spokesman for Earthworks, a national nonprofit environmental organization, called for additional well-monitoring, and several speakers warned that the project threatens local groundwater.

Christine Szuter, executive director at the nearby Amerind Museum, said Excelsior has not assured sufficient financial backing to deal with issues that will arise if the project contaminates the aquifer, contaminates local wells, and causes property values to drop.

"We need a legal guarantee, and there has to be multiple overseers on this project," she said.

“After 10 years, 2017 school district property tax rates are still 28 percent lower than 2005 rates despite the district’s overall increase in student count and revenue collection,”

Ummmmm....something's not right there.

>>“After 10 years, 2017 school district property tax rates are still 28 percent lower than 2005 rates despite the district’s overall increase in student count and revenue collection,”
Ummmmm....something’s not right there. <<

Modern “Journalism” eschews knowledge of English as a requirement.

—
and the use of facts as well as making some sense in the story.

Benson could definitely use the jobs. We spent years in a church there, Calvary Baptist, and they were always helping different people in need in the area. Wonderful people and a wonderful congregation.

"We need a legal guarantee, and there has to be multiple overseers on this project," she said.

translation - environmentalist cactus huggers want payola

Private prisons, wind farms, and mines always promise a windfall (yes, pun) for schools, children, communities. Then demand tax breaks. Get temporary forgiveness of taxes.

Then, after tax breaks expire, they protest assessments.

Schools ask for tax issues to be voted on because they’re broke. Often get them.

My district has two of the three entities above. That’s what happened here.

Beware.

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