ICYMI: Justice “Hit With a Gusher of Recent Financial Pressure” as Nearly 300 Properties Are Auctioned Off After Failure to Pay Almost $400,000 in West Virginia Property Taxes

This week nearly 300 lots of land owned by Jim Justice and his affiliated companies are for sale at public auctions because of delinquent property tax payments — which are “critical” in funding police, infrastructure, libraries, parks, public safety and schools across West Virginia. This latest scandal is intensifying West Virginia Republicans’ “messy,” “costly,” and “bruising intraparty” primary “fight.”

Check out the local coverage below:

Cardinal News: Lee County properties linked to West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice to be auctioned for unpaid taxes
By Matt Busse
June 14, 2023

• More than 30 Lee County properties linked to the family of West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice will head to auction June 16 because of unpaid taxes. “Those funds are much-needed revenue that the county depends on in order to fund its operations,” Rife said.

• Property taxes go into the county’s general fund, which pays for a variety of county services and departments. Rife said selling properties at auction is not the most desirable action — collecting the money that’s due is. But auctioning property is a way to recoup unpaid taxes if necessary. “We’ve done payment plans; we try everything we can to get the account redeemed rather than selling it,” Rife said.

• The auction marks the latest in a series of financial developments for the family of Gov. Justice, who announced in April he will seek the Republican nomination to run for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia.

• Other properties tied to the Justice family or its companies are headed to the auction block this week. In McDowell County, West Virginia, 90 lots owned by Justice go up for auction June 14, according to MetroNews of West Virginia. Properties owned by Justice and his family companies in West Virginia’s Raleigh and Wyoming counties are slated for auction June 15 and 16.

Charleston Gazette-Mail: Gazette-Mail editorial: Justice’s business and court dealings matter
June 14, 2023

• Perhaps what’s most stunning about hundreds of properties owned by West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice and his businesses going to public auction this week after failure to pay roughly $400,000 in delinquent taxes is how routine it all feels.

• It seems like, every week, if not every day, more information emerges indicating that Justice’s business empire is collapsing around him.

• Suffice to say, Justice’s businesses are in trouble. When 300 properties go to auction because the governor or his businesses can’t pay the taxes, which are relatively small when looking at the properties individually, that’s another bad sign.

• His business practices matter. His adherence, or lack thereof, to state and federal environmental and safety laws matters. Most of all, his seemingly continual insistence that rules that apply to everyone else don’t apply to him certainly matters.

Charleston Gazette-Mail: Justice and family properties owe roughly $400k on nearly 300 properties up for auction after other properties drew new buyers
By Mike Tony
June 12, 2023

• Gov. Jim Justice and his businesses owe almost $400,000 on nearly 300 properties up for sale in public auctions to be held this week. Justice himself is listed as owner of 100 of the tracts and lots, on which roughly $93,000 is owed, according to a Gazette-Mail review of records of upcoming county property auctions.

• The listings are the latest indication of financial trouble facing Justice’s business empire as [he] … mounts a U.S. Senate run.

• Property taxes are a critical source of revenue for local tax bases, helping fund infrastructure, libraries, parks, public safety and schools. Neither the Governor’s Office nor a Justice coal company family attorney responded to requests for comment.

WOAY: Newswatch at Noon 
Bluefield, WV
June 8, 2023

• According to county tax officials, several properties owned by Governor Jim Justice are being auctioned in Raleigh and Wyoming counties as payment for delinquent taxes. The West Virginia auditor’s office has taken over the properties in Raleigh and Wyoming counties due to the debts.
  
  
• The listings in the two counties include dozens of properties owned by Justice family businesses, such as Grandview Investment Company, Tams Management, Saddlebred LLC, James Land Company, Kirby Land Company, Bluestone Resources, National Resources, and James C Justice Companies.

WVNS: 59 News at 5PM
Bluefield, WV
June 8, 2023

• Wyoming county tax records show Governor Jim Justice owes more than half a million dollars in personal property taxes. Records at the Wyoming County Sheriff’s office tax department show Governor Justice owes around $640,000 for personal property taxes for the 2021 and 2022 tax years.
  
  
• The West Virginia auditor’s office certified a number of Justice’s real estate properties for auction on June 16th because of unpaid taxes. Tax office records show Justice owes around $200,000 to Wyoming County for unpaid real estate taxes.

WV MetroNews: Ninety lots in Governor Justice’s name are set for auction in McDowell County
By Brad McElhinny 
June 7, 2023

• Ninety lots in Gov. Jim Justice’s name are up for auction next week in McDowell County … because the owner, listed as James C. Justice II, is considered to be delinquent on property tax payments.

• There’s another lot listed under both James Justice and National Resources, one of the family’s businesses. This is in addition to dozens of lots owned by Justice or his family businesses up for auction next week in Wyoming and Raleigh counties.

• Property taxes in West Virginia go to support public school districts, local libraries, police, public parks and additional local government services. Delinquent tax issues mount over months, with multiple warnings.

• Justice, once described as West Virginia’s only billionaire, is facing an earthquake of recent financial pressures. The financial problems have spiked even as the Justice family businesses explore the sale of their coal operations to settle a debt with international lender Credit Suisse and as the governor’s wages are garnished over still another debt.

• Justice has announced a high-profile campaign for U.S. Senate. In the primary election, he faces Congressman Alex Mooney, who is being backed by millions of dollars from the hardline Club for Growth, which already has an advertisement portraying Justice as a “deadbeat billionaire.”

WOWK: 13 News at 11PM
Charleston, WV  
June 7, 2023

• Multiple properties of Governor Jim Justice are up for auction in Raleigh, Wyoming and McDowell counties as payment for delinquent taxes. The real estate in Raleigh and Wyoming are owned by the Governor and the Justice family businesses.
  
• The Raleigh County Commission President says Governor Justice owes them around $300,000 in total taxes in Raleigh county alone. 

WVNS: Justice properties set for tax auction in southern West Virginia
By Jessica Farrish
June 7, 2023

• Dozens of properties owned by Governor Jim Justice are up for auction in Raleigh, Wyoming and McDowell counties as payment for delinquent taxes according to notices published by county tax officials.

• The real estate in Raleigh and Wyoming counties are owned by the governor and by Justice family businesses, according to tax records. The West Virginia Auditor’s Office has taken over the properties in Raleigh and Wyoming counties because of debt owed.

• The McDowell County properties are scheduled for auction on June 14, 2023, while the Raleigh County properties are to be auctioned on June 15, 2023, followed by the properties in Wyoming County on June 16, 2023.

WVNS: West Virginia Tonight Live
Bluefield, WV
June 7, 2023

• Multiple properties of Jim Justice are up for auction in Raleigh, Wyoming and McDowell counties as payment for delinquent taxes. That’s according to notices published by county tax officials.
  
  
• The real estate in Raleigh and Wyoming counties are owned by the Governor and by Justice family businesses, according to tax records. The West Virginia auditor’s office has taken over the properties in Raleigh and Wyoming counties because of debt owed. 

WV MetroNews: Lots owned by Justice and his businesses listed as up for auction by counties 
By Brad McElhinny 
June 6, 2023

• Properties owned by Gov. Jim Justice and his family’s network of businesses are listed among lots for sale at county courthouses next week. The properties in Raleigh and Wyoming counties were listed in public notices as available at auction because of delinquent taxes.
  
  
• Property taxes in West Virginia go to support public school districts, local libraries, police, public parks and additional local government services.

• The Raleigh County notice includes 11 properties owned specifically by James C. Justice II, the governor. The listings in the two counties also include dozens of properties owned by Justice family businesses. Those businesses owe even more money.

• Justice, once described as West Virginia’s only billionaire, has been hit with a gusher of recent financial pressures. The financial problems have spiked even as the Justice family businesses explore the sale of their coal operations to settle a debt with international lender Credit Suisse and as the governor’s wages are garnished over still another debt. …there are signs of financial strain from county courthouses to federal courts.
  

See also: FOR SALE: Nearly 300 Justice Owned Properties Are Being Auctioned Off This Week; ICYMI: Justice’s Finances Face Scrutiny as “Unpaid Fines, Fees, Legal Settlements [And] Defaulted Loans” Mount; Justice’s Finances Face Scrutiny as West Virginia Republicans’ “Battle Royale” Senate Primary Escalates; ICYMI: West Virginia Republicans’ “Battle Royale” Senate Primary Escalates & Justice Faces Scrutiny Over Debt.

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