VAN BUREN TOWNSHIP, Mich.,
Dec. 10, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Van
Buren Charter Township has filed a complaint in Michigan's Wayne County Circuit court against
Visteon Corporation (NASDAQ: VC), which is headquartered in the
Township. The Township is a semi-rural community in western
Wayne County, consisting of
approximately 10,000 households and a per capita annual income of
approximately $25,000. Visteon
is one of the world's largest automotive parts supply
companies.
In its complaint, the Township asks the Court to find that
Visteon Corporation breached its contract with the Township. In
that contract—a settlement agreement was reached between the
parties while Visteon was mired in bankruptcy—the Township gave the
global auto parts supplier massive property tax concessions in
exchange for Visteon's commitment to make payments in the future
that would be necessary to avoid a default on the $28 million in bonds that the Township's Local
Development Finance Authority (LDFA) had previously issued to help
Visteon develop its world headquarters, "Visteon Village." As
originally structured, Visteon's property tax payments would have
been sufficient to pay off the bonds; after the property tax
concessions, a future shortfall was inevitable, which is why the
Township conditioned the concession on Visteon's assistance in
covering the future shortfall.
With the property tax concessions from the Township, Visteon
emerged from bankruptcy and has enjoyed financial success. In 2018
alone, it reported $164 million in
net income. Now, however, Visteon has rejected the Township's
request for payment under the agreement, denying that it has any
obligation to assist the Township cover the shortfall on the bond
payments. Because Visteon has failed to honor its commitment to the
Township, the Township has already experienced its first shortfall,
forcing taxpayers to pay $618,736.31
on October 1st of this
year.
"We tried to responsibly manage financial responsibilities by
bringing this shortfall to Visteon's attention when we had
certainty of the shortfall amount and the date of its occurrence,"
said Van Buren Township Supervisor
Kevin McNamara. "For years, the
Township told Visteon the shortfall would occur in October 2019. For years, Visteon has been telling
the Township and the courts that the Township's projections are
hypothetical or speculative. Well, it's turned out exactly as we
projected, and Visteon is still stonewalling us, leaving taxpayers
to pick up the tab on the shortfall. We're working on our
residents' behalf to prevent that from happening. It's in the best
interest of our taxpayers to put this case in front of the
court. We are hopeful that the court will make Visteon finally
keep its promises to our community."
Van Buren Charter Township vs. Visteon Corporation may be
reviewed at Case # 19-016479-CB.
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SOURCE Van Buren Charter Township