Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. has reached a settlement to reduce the size of a proposed increase in the tax assessments of its multi-million-dollar steel mill facilities in Porter and Lake counties.
The Indiana Department of Local Government Finance revealed the agreement on Jan. 14 with the steelmaker, before the appeal from Cleveland-Cliffs could be heard by the Indiana Board of Tax Review.
Property tax collections are based on the tax assessment. As a result, Porter and Lake County government entities will receive a lower increase because of the lower tax assessment.
Cleveland-Cliffs disputed the proposed 13.5% increase in the tax assessment to $134 million from $118 million for its Porter County operation, centered in Burns Harbor. The settlement figure is $121 million, which is a 2.5% increase.
The steelmaker also contested the 6.1% increase to $121 million from $114 million on its holdings in Lake County, around the city of East Chicago. The compromise will increase the valuation to $116 million, a 1.7% increase.
Taxes are paid the next year based on the valuation from the prior year.
Porter County Assessor Sue Neff and Lake County Assessor Latonya Spearman learned of the decision last week.
“I think both of us were extremely disappointed to learn these settlement discussions had been held without our involvement,” Spearman said.
Neff said she believes the Indiana Board of Tax Review must ratify the agreement, but that’s usually a formality.
The steelmaker’s operations in East Chicago yielded $3,498,579 in tax collections for Lake County in 2025. With the smaller assessment, Lake County will only receive $60,000 more rather than $210,000, according to the Lake County Auditor’s office.
This November 2021 file photo shows the Cleveland-Cliffs mill in Burns Harbor. (Kyle Telechan for the Post-Tribune)
Porter County had calculated that it would receive $348,000 more under the original assessment, but that amount has shrunk to around $70,000. Porter County collected $2.6 million in taxes in 2025 from Cleveland-Cliffs, Porter County Auditor’s statistics show.
The Indiana Department of Local Government Finance set the value for the Cleveland-Cliffs properties. The state agency is responsible for ensuring property tax assessment and local government budgeting are carried out in accordance with Indiana law.
While the state agency was in charge of defending its assessment, Neff and Spearman wanted to make sure that the interests of their counties were represented.
Neff had attended a Burns Harbor Town Council meeting in June, asking that the town support her efforts to hire an expert appraiser who could help present evidence in support of the assessment for the Cleveland-Cliffs property. She said that it’s believed that traditionally, the assessment for steel mills undervalues the property.
But Porter County and Lake County never got the opportunity to present their case.
Spearman said the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance “acted within its rights and within its authority.”
In the future, however, Spearman said she would like the state legislature to give county tax assessors more power in situations like this one.
Cleveland-Cliffs didn’t return a message seeking comment.
Jim Woods is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
