Once the Huckleberry Mine closes in Houston, the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako will be hit with some tax losses on their property assessment.
it could be as high as 5.8 million if the plant is demolished or just over 140 thousand if the plant is left to sit under a temporary shutdown.
Chairperson Bill Miller says they’re not sure what Huckleberry wants to do, but they want the board to have a clear picture of all the scenarios.
“An update as to what the financial impacts are in different scenarios…Huckleberry hasn’t given any clear indications as to what they’re going to do. If the hard assets stay there it will be a different tax impact…just to give us a heads up as to what the impacts will be,” explains Miller about what the regional district will be presented with this week on the property assessment.
A temporary shutdown would allow the mine to open quickly if metal prices improve. A permanent closure would cause losses of over 3 million to the tax base, but would still allow a re-open. a demolition is, of course, permanent – with the assets written down to land value only.