The staggering numbers behind Perry paper mill closing: 2,000 jobs, $10 million in taxes lost

The November closing of the Foley Cellulose Mill in Perry will wreak economic havoc across the Big Bend and will cost Florida nearly 2,000 jobs and $9.9 million in state and local taxes, according to University of Florida economists. 

A report from the UF Institue of Food and Agricultural Science describes the paper mill along the Fenholloway River as the main economic driver for a county where one in five residents live below the poverty line.

The Foley paper mill provides Taylor County workers a payroll of $77 million, and offers starting pay for most jobs that is nearly twice the state per capita income of $35,216.

IFAS calculated the Foley mill accounts for more than 12% of county jobs with 525 positions at the plant and another 500 jobs such as loggers and truckers directly dependent on it.