Possible Tax Change for Eagle Mine

Nothing has been proposed in the state House yet.

However, changes may be coming in the near future to how the Kennecott Eagle Mine in Marquette County is taxed.

The Marquette County Board is discussing those changes at its meeting tonight.

A recent story in the Detroit Free Press says State Representative Matt Huuki of Atlantic Mine is working on proposed legislation that would put a severance tax on minerals.

The severance tax would replace the Kennecott Eagle Mine’s property taxes.

Marquette County Commissioner Debbie Pellow says she’s disappointed that such a measure would be contemplated without any effort so far to engage local governments in the process.

She also says she’s curious what effect the measure would have on the county’s potential revenues from the mine project.

Pellow says by her understanding, a state geologist would appraise the ore body.

As the minerals are extracted, a tax would be paid each year on what’s remaining in the ground.

She says she heard the mine may be taxed differently a few days ago, when fellow Commissioner Gerry Corkin called her on the phone to tell her about the severance tax idea.

Michigan applies a severance tax to most commodities as they’re severed, or extracted, from the ground.

At the moment, those commodities don’t include mining except for low–grade iron mines.