Thursday, February 25, 2016

Morons deal with the devil....and tax payers on the hook again-----Van Buren Township lawsuit against Visteon Corp. dismissed

Van Buren Township lawsuit against Visteon Corp. dismissed - Crain's Detroit Business:
Van Buren Township is closer to financial pitfalls after a Wayne County Circuit Court judge ruled against the township last week in a bond payment battle with its largest corporate resident, Visteon Corp.
The suit, filed in August, alleged the multinational auto supplier breached its contract over bonds tied to the construction of Visteon’s 263-acre campus near Ecorse Road and I-275.
The small, rural township claims Visteon is legally obligated to cover the projected shortfall between bond payments and tax revenue from its corporate headquarters.
That shortfall is currently projected at $29 million by 2019 and that city services and residential taxes are at stake, said Linda Combs, township supervisor.
Visteon contends it isn’t obligated to cover the shortfall.
Judge Muriel Hughes agreed, in part, because a shortfall doesn’t currently exist, Visteon isn’t obligated to cover it. 
Judge Hughes dismissed the case without prejudice on Feb. 18.
“We felt the case was not ready to be heard, and the judge agreed,” Jim Fisher, director of corporate communications for Visteon, said in a statement to Crain’s.
...Van Buren Township agreed to pay $22 million toward the project using proceeds from 30-year tax increment financing bonds.
The total bonds issued for the project were $29 million.
On its end, Visteon agreed to spend $270 million toward the Visteon Village build-out.
The company initially expected Visteon Village to be home to more than 4,000 employees. 
Visteon employs fewer than 1,000 at the site currently.
The township projected the assessed value of the property to be $300 million with a taxable value of $150 million.
But by 2006, tax revenues from the property were already failing to meet bond payments.
Further complicating the matter, Visteon sold its headquarters in 2012 to the New York real estate firm Sovereign Partners LLC for $81.1 million.
In September 2013, Van Buren Township asked Visteon to begin negotiations toward a shortfall payment.
The shortfall payment, the payment-in-lieu of tax the company ultimately offered, was just $6,125.06.

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