Though CertainTeed Ceilings manufacturing plant for ceiling tiles closed in April, its financial impact on Lauderdale County is still unknown. 

On Nov. 27, the company filed a civil suit in the 10th Circuit Court against Lauderdale County, disputing the property tax value assessed by Tax Assessor James Rainey’s office. 

CertainTeed protested the property tax value assessed in August of 2018, saying in the suit that “the value of the Property on the 2018 tax rolls, as approved by the Tax Assessor and the Board of Supervisors, is in excess of the value properly allowable by law.”

According to the suit, CertainTeed argued that the 2018 value for $6,058,160 “appears to be in excess of the January 1st taxable fair market value and is not equitable to comparable parties” and stated the depreciation rate applied was too low.

On Monday, the Lauderdale County Board of Supervisors voted to keep Barry, Thaggard May & Bailey, LLP as the lead attorneys in a suit between CertainTeed and the Lauderdale County Tax Assessor.

The suit comes as the City of Meridian and Lauderdale County taxpayers continue to make payments on a $700,000 loan taken out to entice CertainTeed to reopen in June of 2014.

Lauderdale County, through an information request, said Friday morning that the county and city, combined, have 76 payments of $6,759.25 per month remaining. The city pays their half of the payment to Lauderdale County, which then pays the Mississippi Development Authority.

CertainTeed stopped production in 2009, keeping only distribution and administrative personnel at the plant, off of Highway 11 South near the Meridian Regional Airport, according to previous reports. CertainTeed reopened in the summer of 2014 with Gov. Phil Bryant praising CertainTeed’s “commitment to Mississippi” as “a new beginning of success and prosperity.”

CertainTeed closed its doors in April, according to the suit filed last month. 

“CertainTeed Ceilings has made the difficult decision to close its facility in Meridian, Mississippi. This was a strategic business decision made after a careful analysis of all possible solutions across the CertainTeed Ceilings manufacturing network,” a company statement released in February said. 

According to the Mississippi Development Authority, the plant invested $24 million to create 110 new jobs, with the state contributing an additional $1.7 million. 

Mississippi Development Authority spent $1.1 million, while Lauderdale County borrowed $700,000 for infrastructure and rail improvements. Both the city and the county agreed to pay back $350,000 each. 

Infrastructure work included improvements to an existing rail spur, increasing water service to the property and installing a sewage pretreatment plant, according to previous reports. 

The Sept. 2018 Claims Docket, the latest printed in The Meridian Star, had a $6,759 payment from Fund 250 CertainTeed Cap Loan to the Mississippi Development Authority. Dockets for August, July and May also listed payments in that amount. 

In January 2017, the Board of Supervisors approved a 10-year Ad Valorem Tax Exemption for CertainTeed that began in January of 2016 valued for $15,246.

CertainTeed also had a delayed 90-day billing cycle (approved on Dec. 6, 2016) and a 10-year Ad Valorem Tax Exemption (approved on May 19, 2016), both from the City of Meridian. 

In an earlier version of this story, Board President Wayman Newell said he thought payments on the CertainTeed capital improvement loan were nearly complete. The story has been updated with numbers from Lauderdale County.