Companies owned by W.Va. Gov. Jim Justice forced to pay off some of their long-standing debts in W.Va. and Ky. - Entrepreneur Generations

Gov. Jim Justice

Companies owned by West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice and his family are being forced to pay off some of their long-standing debts to companies and counties in that state and Kentucky. 

In W.Va., "court cases, including some from afar, keep resulting in local law enforcement officers being asked to assess what personal property is available from Gov. Jim Justice, said to be the state’s richest man — and seize it," Brad McElhinny reports for MetroNews in West Virginia. 

Siemens Financial Services is asking the Greenbriar County sheriff to seize Justice's personal property and check his assets. A Justice-owned company, Southern Coal, owes Siemens almost $4 million, but Justice agreed in court to personally pay $2.79 million on the debt. "He didn’t do so fast enough to satisfy the company. It’s now trying to force the collection of what’s left," McElhinny reports.

In Kentucky, Justice coal companies were forced to start paying back delinquent property taxes to counties if they wanted the mining license for their company, Kentucky Fuel, to be reinstated. Most of Justice's debt was for Kentucky Fuel, which he once operated but transferred to the ownership of his son and daughter in 2017. State officials agreed to waive penalties and interest on debts to most Ky. counties in order to reach the agreement and start bringing in money for counties that might not have been able to collect otherwise, Bill Estep and Will Wright report for the Lexington Herald-Leader.

"Knott, Pike, Harlan and Magoffin counties received checks last week totaling nearly $1.2 million, and Justice’s organization has pledged to pay an equal amount over the next six months," Estep and Wright report. "The agreement did not cover Floyd County, where a Justice company called Kentucky Fuel has a delinquent tax bill of $671,000" because the county attorney said he's unwilling to waive all interest and penalties. It's unclear how that debt will be resolved.

The cash was sorely needed. "Counties get money from a tax on coal production, so their revenue has withered because of the drop in production and because of a state decision to reduce the valuation of coal reserves, forcing cuts for local governments and schools," Estep and Wright report. "Knott County, for instance, has laid off 32 employees since the first of the year, sold 15 vehicles to reduce costs, and cut the number of hot meals it provides for senior citizens."

from The Rural Blog http://bit.ly/2K7gGoI Companies owned by W.Va. Gov. Jim Justice forced to pay off some of their long-standing debts in W.Va. and Ky. - Entrepreneur Generations

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