Coal Firm Owned By Gov. Justice Owes Nearly $1M: State Tax Liens

CHARLESTON, WV —West Virginia tax officials filed four new liens for nearly $1 million against a coal company owned by Gov. Jim Justice and his family, court records showed.

The Charleston Gazette-Mail reports that the liens are for unpaid severance taxes for mining coal and unpaid reclamation taxes for cleaning up abandoned mine sites.

Tams Management Inc. owes the state nearly $972,000 for taxes, interest and penalties, records at the Kanawha County Courthouse showed. (For more local news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

In a statement, an attorney for James C. Justice Companies Inc. told the newspaper Tams Management remains committed to honoring its tax obligations.

As governor, Justice turned over coal company operations to his son, Jay Justice.

Earlier this week, a federal appeals court upheld $1.23 million in civil contempt fines ordered against Justice Energy Co., another of the family's coal companies.

James River Equipment, a Virginia-based company, sued in November 2013 for $150,000 for unpaid parts, service and equipment. That claim was settled for $180,000 last year.

However, the federal judge had imposed $30,000 daily fines to compel Justice Energy to provide documents and appear in court, something its lawyers later argued they didn't know about since the mining operation was a recent acquisition and a carry-over company representative didn't tell them for a year.

In February, tax liens filed in Raleigh County where Justice parent company Southern Coal Corp. is based, showed another $4.4 million in unpaid state taxes due at least a year earlier.

The current status of those liens was unclear Friday.

Southern Coal has said it will meet every obligation it owes. It didn't say when.

Grant Herring, spokesman for the governor, directed questions to the companies.

Photo credit: Alexander G via Flickr/Creative Commons