Two of the largest delinquent taxpayers in Clermont County are the owners of the former Walter C. Beckjord coal plant site, who collectively owe more than $640,000, according to the county auditor.That money is used for schools, roads, police and fire, parks, libraries and other basic needs in Clermont County, Pierce and Ohio townships and the Village of New Richmond.We spoke to Allen Freeman, president of the board of trustees in Pierce Township, where voters passed a new levy to fund police in November. Freeman said the news was hard to swallow.When were asking residents to dig into their pockets for a little bit more to help pay for the police department, and youve got a major developer not paying anything. That doesnt sit well, Freeman said. That shortchanges the community that theyre in and the services that we can provide to the community, to our residents.Freeman also said that the new owners of the former Beckjord site do not live in Pierce Township.WATCH: WCPO's I-Team talks to county and township leaders about the property's future Former coal plant site owners owe over $600,000 in taxesSo, there isnt that much of an impact on them, but there is on our residents. And thats not even to mention how much the school is getting shorted, Freeman said. Thats something that were really going to have to push and try to make sure that we get it collected.Built in the 1950s as a coal-burning giant, the Beckjord plant created electricity for hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses across Southwest Ohio. For decades, Clermont County was flush with tax revenue from Beckjord near New Richmond and the William H. Zimmer coal plant in Moscow. It paved roads, built new fire stations and schools, opened a community center and replaced household septic tanks with municipally treated water.But that revenue is evaporating. Duke Energy closed Beckjord in 2014 and sold the site to Missouri-based Commercial Liability Partners four years later.Then Texas-based Vistra Corp. closed the Zimmer plant in May 2022  five years ahead of schedule. It has not announced plans to redevelop the site.In the aftermath, the New Richmond School District has been struggling with budget shortfalls and was placed in fiscal caution by the Ohio Department of Education last year. Meanwhile, CLP demolished the Beckjord plant and is cleaning up the site to attract new development.CLP has been fighting the valuation of the property since 2018, claiming the county and then the state were overvaluing it.It planned to take its case to the Ohio 12thDistrict Court of Appeals, when it finally settled with the county in November 2024, reducing the taxable value on some parcels by hundreds of thousands.But 14 months later, none of the delinquent debt had been collected, as of last week.CLP owns the site under its subsidiary, New Richmond Development Corp., which owes more than $290,000 in delinquent property taxes, according to county records. According to our records, the last payments we received were in 2022. Many of these parcels were involved in an appeal with the Ohio Board of Tax Appeals.  Our office was awaiting the outcome of that appeal before proceeding with any collection efforts.  My understanding is that the appeal was recently completed.  My office has been in contact with the owner(s), and we will work with them to collect the delinquent taxes, Clermont County Treasurer Jeannie Zurmehly said in a Jan. 13 email to the I-Team.In an email to our I-Team, CLP vice president Jesse Froh said they are "working with the local property tax authorities to pay off the arrearages."A Brown County farmer and business owner bought 294 acres of that site from CLP in January 2023. Delbert Aicholtz's entity, TBDA Investments LLC, owes nearly $350,000 in delinquent taxes, according to county records. My understanding is that it (the tax appeal) was just settled. I was told Id get a letter with the information, which I have yet to receive. It will all get worked out, Aicholtz said in a text message to the I-Team.But Freeman said he isnt so sure the delinquent tax money will be repaid anytime soon.I think they realize that nobody is going to foreclose on that property because who wants to own it after they foreclose on it, Freeman said. You still have a tremendous amount of environmental issues that still have to be worked through. Millions of dollars of cleanup that still need to be done, and probably millions more that they should do that theyre not doing. They know theyre in that position, so they just hold back.The site is valuable for its size and access to the Ohio River, but it has some drawbacks.Thats because six million cubic yards of leftover coal fly ash are stored in manmade ponds along the Ohio River, which is a drinking water source for more than five million people. These unlined ash ponds are in the rivers floodplain and directly upstream from the countys primary drinking water wellfields, which serve 130,000 people.Coal fly ash is a by-product of burning coal, which contains contaminants such as mercury and arsenic, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.County leaders told us they worry that coal ash is leaking into the groundwater. Last November, the I-Team found that one of two interceptor wells intended to protect county drinking water from a migrating sulfate plume has not been operational since 2023.Over the years, Clermont County leaders have complained about the lack of information from CLP and mediocre oversight from the Ohio EPA.The OEPA is indicating that at least a portion of that property is ready for redevelopment, Freeman said. Therefore, now, particularly the Aicholtz portion, they can move forward with economic development at that point, that would certainly indicate that that property value has gone way up because now it's developable. Some parcels that Aicholtz purchased are on the Ohio River, very close to coal ash ponds. Other parcels are undeveloped land on a nearby hillside where the former Cincinnati Gas and Electric Company operated a long-term ash disposal site bordered by Beckjord, Nelp and Pond Run Roads, according to court filings and auditor records.Every attempt is made to collect that money, and every attempt is made by our treasurers office to work with those people who are delinquent in taxes to try to come up with some type of payment measure, said Clermont County Commissioner David Painter.If the county foreclosed on the properties to collect its debt, the land could be sold at a sheriffs sale. If there were no buyers, the county could potentially take over the site through its land bank.If the taxes werent paid, obviously, the treasurers office would foreclose. A whole lot of consideration would be taken into account at that time, Painter said. Obviously, the county would not want to remediate that liability, nor would we want to take ownership of those ash pits. However, the acreage thats around Beckjord is not bad acreage and could be developed." Painter said that it could be a riverfront concert facility, similar to Riverbend Music Center, or a site for additional power production. Painter told us whoever is elected as the new Ohio governor, might think that site would be prime for a modular nuclear facility."Freeman said he'd like to see next-generation technologies and industries that provide good-paying jobs and not storage warehouses, gravel or concrete factories moving onto Aicholtzs land.Pierce Township has a 30-year springing tax increment financing (TIF) under the former Beckjord property to aid development. However, Freeman said that a developer might not receive that tax benefit if the delinquent debts remain unpaid.I would certainly not approve providing them with any incentives if they are not current on their taxes, Freeman said. We hope that everybody pays their fair share. But very clearly, they dont. ...read more read less