Uniform PILOT; Draft single plan for all developers
Watertown Daily Times|January 7, 2010
The Jefferson County Industrial Development Agency must now accomplish what it was asked to do in the first place: draft a uniform policy for payments in lieu of taxes by wind developers. That was the directive originally given by the county Legislature. Instead the JCIDA presented a proposed PILOT on behalf of Upstate NY Power Corp. to accommodate construction of its wind farm on Galloo Island.
The Jefferson County Industrial Development Agency must now accomplish what it was asked to do in the first place: draft a uniform policy for payments in lieu of taxes by wind developers. That was the directive originally given by the county Legislature. Instead the JCIDA presented a proposed PILOT on behalf of Upstate NY Power Corp. to accommodate construction of its wind farm on Galloo Island.
The Jefferson County Industrial Development Agency must now accomplish what it was asked to do in the first place: draft a uniform policy for payments in lieu of taxes by wind developers.
That was the directive originally given by the county Legislature. Instead the JCIDA presented a proposed PILOT on behalf of Upstate NY Power Corp. to accommodate construction of its wind farm on Galloo Island to qualify for a $150 million federal grant. The 20-year PILOT left taxpayers $5.3 million short of what the county, town of Hounsfield and Sackets Harbor School District would receive under the standard 15-year PILOT.
The strategy JCIDA and Upstate devised was to expedite PILOT approval by the three taxing jurisdictions on just part of the …
... more [truncated due to possible copyright]The Jefferson County Industrial Development Agency must now accomplish what it was asked to do in the first place: draft a uniform policy for payments in lieu of taxes by wind developers.
That was the directive originally given by the county Legislature. Instead the JCIDA presented a proposed PILOT on behalf of Upstate NY Power Corp. to accommodate construction of its wind farm on Galloo Island to qualify for a $150 million federal grant. The 20-year PILOT left taxpayers $5.3 million short of what the county, town of Hounsfield and Sackets Harbor School District would receive under the standard 15-year PILOT.
The strategy JCIDA and Upstate devised was to expedite PILOT approval by the three taxing jurisdictions on just part of the project. But the scheme failed.
Despite rapid approval by the town and school district, too many questions emerged under closer public scrutiny about the loss of tax revenue coupled with federal aid and a $23 million break for Upstate on mortgage and sales taxes to municipalities. It also neglected to consider the proposed transmission line linking the wind farm to an existing power line in Oswego County, which could require eminent domain over objections of property owners.
Growing doubts put the plan in jeopardy when it went before the Legislature Tuesday night. However, before a vote could be taken the JCIDA withdrew the proposal at the last minute, paving the way to reopen negotiations on the PILOT and comply with the Legislature's expectations.
The JCIDA must draft a uniform policy to be applied equally to all wind power producers who will know up front what tax breaks they can expect from the county, towns and school districts and what Jefferson County expects from developers seeking to capitalize on the county's natural resources.
The JCIDA board itself should pay very close attention to the requirements of the legislature which appointed them. The assignment is simple - create a pilot agreement that produces full property taxes, no sales tax or mortgage tax relief.