Ohio Official Demands GM Pay Back $60 Million To State

LORDSTOWN, OH — Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is demanding General Motors pay the state $60 million for shuttering its Lordstown operations.

In January 2009, Ohio gave General Motors tax credits for its Lordstown auto operations. The company in turn promised to maintain operations in the Mahoning Valley through 2028, and to keep 3,700 jobs in the area through 2040, Yost said. Those promises were made under contract in exchange for the tax credits, the Ohio Attorney General argued.

Lordstown ceased operations in 2019, devastating the surrounding area. Yost filed a brief this week demanding the company pay back the $60 million it received as tax credits.

“Accountability is the key to good business and we’re holding GM accountable for not living up to its end of the contract,” Yost said. “We demand the money that is rightfully owed to Ohio – no more, no less.”

Yost's brief was filed with the Ohio Tax Credit Authority. The Ohio Attorney General's office is hoping the agency will join them in demanding General Motors repay the state for its tax credits.

“Promises were meant to be kept, it’s what we were taught as children and it’s something adults and companies should honor,” Yost said.

General Motors has argued external factors and market changes forced the company to shutter its Lordstown operations, the Business Journal Daily reported. The company also released a statement to the Dayton Daily News noting its investments in Ohio, including a battery cell manufacturing plant in Lordstown.

Yost's brief warns that if General Motors isn't held responsible for shuttering its operations, then all tax incentive-based deals in Ohio could be at stake.

“This case will be watched closely. Should the Authority accept GM's argument that its unilateral business decision relieves it of its obligations, it will have no legitimate basis to claw back any other incentive, ever. GM will have carte blanche to walk away from its other Ohio tax-incentivized operations. And so will every other business. The State's agreements to retain and create jobs will be mere fiction, excused by the slightest inconvenience. Ohio may as well simply give the money away.”