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Mayor: Pixel paper mill closure could cost Chillicothe about $1.4–$1.5 million in income tax; council asked to prepare
Summary
Mayor Feeney told Chillicothe City Council that the announced closure of the Pixel paper mill threatens roughly $1.4–$1.5 million in annual city income-tax revenue (about 8% of the city's total). He urged simultaneous efforts to retain jobs and contingency budgeting if the plant closes.
Mayor Feeney told Chillicothe City Council on April 28 that the announced closure of the Pixel paper mill poses a significant revenue and jobs risk for the city.
“The paper mill is the city's single largest employer, by a good margin,” Mayor Feeney said. He told council the plant employs “800 plus people” and that “income tax revenue from the paper mill employees alone is somewhere between 1.4 and $1,500,000 — approximately 8% of our total income tax.”
Feeney said federal and state officials had visited Chillicothe after the April 15 announcement and described the response as unusually coordinated; he said the presence of two U.S. senators, the governor, the state representative, the state senator and the attorney general signaled significant outside interest. He said JobsOhio and other state actors remained engaged in efforts to keep the facility operating or to find a buyer.
“We have to approach this crisis on two fronts,” Feeney said, naming both active efforts to retain operations and an internal budgeting effort to prepare for a worst-case closure. He told council he has asked each department director to review staffing and operating plans and that the auditor will present a tax budget in July; Feeney said those materials will be used to show council “what might look like without that revenue.”
Feeney framed the city's immediate work as balancing optimism about retention and realistic planning for the budget impact should the plant close in December. He warned the loss of jobs would have a ripple effect beyond income tax, potentially affecting sales tax and related revenues.
The remarks were delivered as an information report; no formal council action or vote was recorded on the topic at the April 28 meeting.
Mayor Feeney concluded by asking the council and the community to stay informed as state and federal officials continue outreach and negotiations, and by saying the administration will provide updated financial information as it becomes available.
