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Oregon Wild wants taxpayer money from failed Rough & Ready sawmill project Friday Mar 30, 2018 at 4:50 PM Mar 30, 2018 at 4:50 PM By Gordon R. FriedmanThe Oregonian/OregonLive The conservation group Oregon Wild on Friday sent a letter to Gov. Kate Brown asking her to have the state claw back the remaining public investment in a Southern Oregon sawmill project that went belly-up. The Oregonian/OregonLive detailed the failed Rough & Ready mill project this month in its story “Destined to fail: Oregon officials missed taxpayer-backed mill project’s red flags.” The newsroom highlighted how state and federal officials OK’d more than $12 million in taxpayer financing sought by the mill’s owners, Jennifer and Link Phillippi, and green-centric nonprofit Ecotrust to retool the once-mothballed mill despite evident problems with the plan. The mill briefly reopened but closed for good soon after. It was then sold, leaving just $5 million intact after the massive public investment. Ecotrust and the Phillippis ran afoul of state tax credit usage rules when the nonprofit arranged and failed to disclose a one-day, $4.9 million loan within the complex webbing of the mill financing plan. That loan was used to buy the mill property from the Phillippis and transfer it to a company 99 percent owned by the Phillippis – an illegitimate use of funds, Oregon’s top tax official would later declare. After The Oregonian/OregonLive began inquiring about the deal’s legitimacy, the state told Ecotrust and the Phillippis it would seek repayment of $1 million because of improper spending. Ecotrust and the Phillippis have denied wrongdoing and expressed remorse about the project’s failure. Ecotrust and the Phillippis can avoid the claw back with a legitimate investment of at least $2.9 million, according to the state. They’ve signaled their intention to make such an investment by purchasing timberland. Oregon Wild said in its letter that spending the money on forestland for the Phillippis to manage would be “inconsistent” with the original intent of the taxpayer investment: to create jobs in the unemployment-racked Illinois Valley. “Timberland changing hands from one owner to another will not create additional jobs in southwest Oregon,” wrote Oregon Wild director Sean Stevens. Oregon Wild generally lobbies for stricter logging rules that prevent or limit clearcutting and other industry practices. Along with Brown, the letter was sent to Chris Harder, head of economic development agency Business Oregon, and other state officials. A spokesman for Brown said the governor’s office has received Stevens’ letter, but declined to comment further. A Business Oregon spokesman did not immediately return a request for comment. Stevens said Brown and Harder have a chance to make sure the taxpayer funds invested in Rough & Ready go to legitimate use. “The public was told that the allocation of their tax dollars to support Rough & Ready was a wise investment that would benefit southern Oregon’s economy while improving environmental health,” Stevens wrote. “While much of their money was wasted, it is not too late for you to ensure the remainder is actually spent on programs that achieve those goals.”