CLEARFIELD – With the expiration of the Keystone Opportunity Zone at the end of this year, officials are growing concerned about Bionol Clearfield’s assessed value.
At Thursday night’s Clearfield Borough Council committees meeting, Clearfield Borough Operations Manager Leslie Stott informed council that she had met with officials from Clearfield County and the Clearfield Area School District. She said the county has “grave concerns” over the ability to assess the Bionol site.
Bionol is the only commercial ethanol plant in Pennsylvania. Currently the property sits in a tax-free zone. That designation expires at the end of this year, which would mean that the Bionol property would be on the tax rolls.
“Nothing compares to it,” said Stott.
She told council that she told the other officials that this was the county’s job. She noted, however, that if the site was assessed too high, then a specialty lawyer would need to be hired to counter any possible appeal by Bionol. If it came in too low, then the same would need to be hired, this time so the borough, and possibly the county and school district, could appeal that decision.
Stott said an industrial appraiser from Pittsburgh was suggested. She said she wanted to be sure this group had experience with ethanol plants, and she stated that it does.
Stott said the borough would get 22 percent of the tax revenue, and she suggested that the borough pay 22 percent of the bill for the appraisal. This would cost the borough about $3,077.
“Help them get it right the first time,” said Stott.
The planning and community development committee approved presenting the issue at next Thursday’s regular meeting of council.
