The company linked to the controversial plan to operate a titanium mine near the edge of the Okefenokee Swamp is behind on hundreds of thousands of dollars in personal property taxes owed to the South Georgia county where the mine would be built, local tax records show.
Twin Pines Minerals owes Charlton County $365,000 in taxes, including $55,000 in penalties and interest, county records show. To pay off the $650,000 tax bill, originally due in January, the company has entered into a payment plan with the county.
The company has made two payments, one in May and another in July, for a total of $300,000, according to the Charlton County Tax Commissioner’s Office. The one year of assessed taxes covers the equipment on the property, records show.
Trail Ridge Land LLC, an affiliated company that owns the roughly 600 acres of land that the mine would be built on, was also late to pay roughly $30,000 in property taxes, county tax records show. Charlton County placed four liens on the properties in April that were eventually paid in June. Trail Ridge Land was registered in Georgia in 2018 to Steven Ingle, president of Twin Pines.
“When our taxes came due, I contacted the Charlton County Tax Assessor and made arrangements to fulfill Twin Pines’ obligations via payments, which is standard operating procedure in Charlton County. We have made payments and will continue to do so moving forward,” Ingle said in an emailed statement.
County records show Twin Pines paid its taxes on time in 2022 and 2021.
Twin Pines says the $300 million mine project would employ hundreds of full-time workers and double the county’s tax base. These commitments have helped the company garner strong support from Charlton County public officials, who say the additional tax dollars can be used to fund essential public services.
But the company’s struggles to keep up with its property taxes raises doubts about the company’s promises, said Atlanta environmental attorney Josh Marks, a staunch opponent of the mine.
Marks has repeatedly called for the Georgia Environmental Protection Division to deny the company’s mining permit. In February, the agency released draft permits for the proposal. Opponents of the mine fear full approval may come this year.
“TPM’s tax delinquency shows that the company can’t pay its bills,” said Marks, who called the company’s sales pitch to the local community a mirage.
In an email, Charlton County Commissioner Drew Jones declined to comment on Twin Pines’ finances while reaffirming the need for economic development in the county, adding the environmentalists “contribute little to nothing” to his community.
“We have no hospital in our County, we have broken roads and sidewalks, every child in our school system gets free lunch. We are in desperate need of a catalyst to increase the quality of lives of our citizens,” Jones said.
When reached by phone, Charlton Commissioner James Everett told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution he was unaware Twin Pines has an outstanding property tax bill and said he would “look into it.”
This is not the first time a company affiliated with Twin Pines or Ingle has been behind on property taxes.
Twin Pines is a subsidiary of Greenfuels Energy LLC. Another Greenfuels subsidiary, North Carolina Renewable Power, was late multiple times on the property taxes it owed on a biomass energy plant in North Carolina, county tax records show.
The company, where Ingle served as vice president of engineering for several years, also faced persistent operational problems.
Equipment malfunctions meant the plant struggled to stay under its emissions limits for several pollutants, including carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide. North Carolina Renewable Power garnered 64 environmental violations for a total of $174,000 in fines over the course of its operation, state environmental records show.
Ultimately, the plant proved insolvent and shut down permanently in 2023. In a previous statement, Ingle acknowledged the plant “encountered problems” and told the AJC that he left North Carolina Renewable Power in August 2018.
North Carolina environmental inspectors who passed by the facility shortly after its closure last year noticed new signs on the plant posted by the local sheriff.
“Upon arrival, I noted several county sheriff placards on the facility’s sign noting the facility had been closed for not paying county taxes. I saw similar placards on the facility’s gates which were padlocked by Robeson County Officials,” the inspector wrote.
“There were no vehicles or personnel onsite and the site appeared abandoned.”
