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State Seeks to Recoup $3 Million in Sawmill Incentives
The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity has filed a lawsuit seeking to recoup $3 million in incentives that the state provided to help attract a sawmill to Suwannee County.
The department filed the lawsuit Tuesday in Leon County circuit court against Klausner Holding USA, Inc. Then-Gov. Rick Scott in 2011 approved providing $3 million to the project from an incentive program known as the Quick Action Closing Fund.
The deal required Klausner to create 350 jobs, maintain an average annual wage of $30,000 and invest at least $150 million in the facility, according to the lawsuit. But the company is accused in the lawsuit of failing to cooperate with compliance monitoring and not providing adequate evidence that it met the investment requirements.
The lawsuit seeks to recoup $3,052,859, which includes interest. The Austrian company binderholz Group purchased the Suwannee County sawmill in August 2020, according to the binderholz website.
