Wednesday, March 21, 2018

Pickering demands $92 million from Stion


State Auditor Stacey Pickering issued the following statement.


Today, State Auditor Stacey Pickering and the Performance Audit Division of the Mississippi Office of the State Auditor (OSA) issued the largest ever demand issued by OSA against Stion Corporation in the amount of $92,943,780.86.

Stion Corporation, which manufactured solar panels, operated under multiple business names during its business with Mississippi Development Authority (MDA) and originally signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with MDA in 2011. One of the business names appearing on MDA-approved loan documents included a business that was not registered with the Mississippi Secretary of State. Due to this fact, they should not have been authorized to conduct business within the State of Mississippi.

The $75 Million loan from MDA was originally contingent upon Stion Corporation making a

$400 Million capital investment in the project before January 2017 and creating 1,000 jobs within six years of operation. The agreement was amended in 2015 to only require $250 Million of capital investment by January 2020 and the creation of 500 jobs by January 2023. As of October 2017, OSA determined that Stion Corporation had only hired 137 employees; capital investment information was not supplied to OSA upon request.

Additionally, as part of a local agreement between Stion Corporation and Hattiesburg; Forrest County; and the Forrest County Tax Assessor, the corporation was allowed to pay a fee to these entities in lieu of ad valorem property taxes. Stion Corporation also failed to properly pay this fee, resulting in over $2 Million being owed to Hattiesburg and Forrest County.

After multiple amendments to the loan agreement, in October 2013, MDA agreed to allow biannual interest-only payments from Stion until January 2017; at that time, a payment schedule to repay all outstanding amounts of the loan by the end of December 2025. Stion Corporation did not pay the final interest-only payment (December 2016) and did not begin regular payments in January 2017. Therefore, OSA finds that Stion has defaulted on the loan received from MDA.

On October 13, 2017, Stion Corporation announced to MDA and the Area Development Partnership in Hattiesburg that it was closing its Hattiesburg facility. This closure leaves 137 Mississippians without jobs and is another failed “Green Project” in Mississippi in which millions of taxpayer dollars have been lost.

State Auditor Stacey Pickering said, “Stion is just one more example of a risky investment made by Mississippi in which the company and its management did not keep their commitments. Today is the first step to begin the process of recovering monies on behalf of Mississippi taxpayers.”

Included in the amount of the demand are the original loan principal, interest on the loan, statutory interest charges from OSA, fees owed to Hattiesburg and Forrest County in lieu of taxes, and recovery costs.

Stion Corporation will have 30 days to repay the funds to the State of Mississippi before the demand is referred to the Office of the Attorney General State of Mississippi for litigation.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

When will Mississippi learn that beggars can't be choosers. Incompetent Mississippi leadership at its best. Mississippi has been in this situation many times before. Some folks refuse to learn from the past.

Anonymous said...

Ooops!

Anonymous said...

Dang conservatives

Anonymous said...

Messages from the dark side........

Anonymous said...

Pickering should send Haley Barbour the bill for Stion, Kior, Twin Creeks, Kemper, the Gulfort port, and all the rest of his boondoggles.

Anonymous said...

They will just declare bankruptcy, flip off the attorney general and auditor and walk away without consequences

Louis LeFleur said...

Is it just me, or can no one else actually see/read the statement?

Louis LeFleur said...

Thanks for the quick fix, KF! Now that I've read it, all I can say is I wish the state good luck. It'll need it.

Anonymous said...

You're either for corporate welfare or you're against it.

Anonymous said...

Thank you once again, Haley.

Anonymous said...

Haley must worship that money above all else. No scruples exist.

Anonymous said...

this is a bigger sham than the beef plant . but rest assured all you republicans, no one will go to jail, no one will have to pay criminal restitution, no one will be convicted of anything, no one will pay out money in a civil case, no one will so much as loose their job. welcome to the one party state of mississippi, where the only growth industry is state government. all brought to you be the republican party, the party of "limited " government.

Anonymous said...

Would someone please ask Whit Hughes above his involvement in this project. I believe it was birthed while he was the deputy director at MDA. However, maybe he was just responsible for assigning reserved parking.

Anonymous said...

Mississippi- The Hospitality State.

Anonymous said...

For anyone wanting a preview of Whit’s “game plan,” look no further than this project.

Anonymous said...

Did Whit Hughes support Stion or not? If so - go. Simple question!

Anonymous said...

can any of you mississippi republican party cheerleaders name any business venture by the mississippi legislature that has been a success??


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