West Virginia Governor-elect Jim Justice celebrates his victory Nov. 8 at The Greenbrier resort.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Companies owned by governor-elect Jim Justice continue to owe millions of dollars in taxes to the state of West Virginia, as the billionaire begins to organize his administration and the state government slashes spending on Medicaid and education.
The Raleigh County Clerk’s Office confirmed Wednesday that Justice’s Kentucky Fuel Corp. is still delinquent on millions of dollars in coal severance taxes the company owes to the state, including a $1.14 million tax lien from 2014 that made up nearly a third of the delinquent severance taxes for that year.
The unpaid state taxes were originally reported by NPR in an investigation published in October that found that Justice owed nearly $15 million in taxes and unpaid federal mine safety fines. It also found that Justice reneged on multi-million-dollar philanthropic promises to the Boy Scouts of America and the Cleveland Clinic.
Justice, through campaign spokesman Grant Herring, refused multiple requests for an interview to discuss his businesses and unpaid taxes.
“All of the taxes from Justice Corporation businesses will be paid, just as they always are,” Herring said.
When asked to provide evidence that Justice had paid or is paying the debts he owes, Herring said, “You have our statement.”
Throughout his campaign to become West Virginia’s next governor, Justice was plagued by reports that his companies either didn’t pay their taxes or were late doing so.
The Gazette-Mail and Lexington Herald Leader found that Justice’s companies owed millions of dollars in unpaid property taxes to local governments in West Virginia and Kentucky in 2015 and 2016. His coal operations also owed hundreds of thousands of dollars in withholding taxes, which is money that was pulled from employees’ paychecks but never passed along to the federal government.
Justice has tried to brush off any questions about the delinquencies by suggesting the debts were the result of the downturn in the coal industry, and he criticized other coal companies for filing for bankruptcy.
Larry Puccio, a lobbyist, campaign consultant and former West Virginia Democratic Party leader who is heading up Justice’s transition team, said he knows nothing about the taxes that Justice owes.
“I don’t get into those things,” Puccio said. “I couldn’t even tell you if he owes severances taxes to the state of West Virginia.”
Millions of dollars in tax delinquencies in West Virginia are likely to become a bigger problem as the state continues to struggle with a multi-million budget deficit and lawmakers continue to search for additional revenue or government savings.
On Tuesday, Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin announced that state agencies would undergo a mid-year 2 percent spending cut to save $59.8 million. The Governor’s Office said those cuts would reduce money for K-12 schools by $11 million and would slash $25 million from the Medicaid program, which provides health insurance to a significant portion of the state’s population.
In interviews and public appearances during the campaign, Justice said he would not have supported cutting the severance tax rate for coal and natural gas companies, which was supported by the Republican-led Legislature.
“All that does is put some money in my pocket,” Justice told The Dominion Post just days before the NPR investigation was published.
He did not mention that his companies had not paid the taxes they owe.
Reach Andrew Brown at [email protected], 304-348-4814 or follow @Andy_Ed_Brown on Twitter.