COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said General Motors should pay back the $60 million the company took in tax credits after breaking a promise to the Mahoning Valley.

Yost made the statement in a brief to the Ohio Tax Credit Authority Tuesday.

The call for GM to repay the tax credits comes following a promise made in 2009 when they began to receive the credits. According to the release, GM made the promise to maintain operations at the Lordstown plant through 2028 and keep 3,700 jobs there through 2040.

The release says GM made those promises under contract for $60 million in tax credit certificates from the state but the company did not fulfill its side of the deal after closing the Lordstown plant.

At the time of the Lordstown closing, GM made a $6.732 billion profit on more than $137 billion in gross revenue.

"Accountability is the key to good business and we're holding GM accountable for not living up to its end of the contract," Yost said. "We demand the money that is rightfully owed to Ohio – no more, no less."

A study by the Center for Economic Development at Cleveland State University estimated that the closure of the Lordstown plant caused the loss of nearly 8,000 jobs and more than $8 billion in economic activity in the area.

The Lordstown School District also relied on the Lordstown plant for almost $800,000 in property taxes each year.

"Promises were meant to be kept, it's what we were taught as children and it's something adults and companies should honor," Yost said.