Ohio Clawing Back $28M In Tax Credits From General Motors

The state of Ohio is calling on General Motors to refund tens of millions of dollars in tax credits in reaction to GM closing the Lordstown plant last year.

The state has reached a new agreement with GM to claw back $28 million and requiring GM to invest another $12 million into the Mahoning Valley.

The Ohio Tax Credit Authority said General Motors is out of compliance with its tax incentive agreement after shutting down production at the Lordstown plant in March 2019. The tax deal was struck in 2008 and steered $60 million to GM.

GM spokesman Dan Flores said market conditions led to closing the Lordstown plant.

“We did have to make the difficult decision that we were unfortunately closing the assembly plant,” Flores said, “Fully understand that we secured incentives as part of investments related to the Chevrolet Cruze and we didn’t live up to our full obligation.”

GM continues to make other investments in Ohio, he noted, such as a new battery cell plant in Lordstown and $71 million in new investments at plants in Toledo and Defiance.

“Ohio’s been a very important state of us. We have about 3,800 employees, Flores said. “The agreement that we reached with the state of Ohio on the incentives, as well as the commitments related to the investment announcement made this afternoon, show that Ohio’s going to continue to be an important state for us.”

The $12 million in investments for Lordstown focus on education, community programs, and infrastructure. Flores says these three focus areas will be served by community grants to be distributed by the end of 2022.

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