| Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005. |
Deal in the wind for TransCanada; Franklin commissioner says arrangement would benefit taxpayers, county
Translate: FROM English | TO English
Translate: FROM English | TO English
Franklin County residents can hear tonight about a proposed tax break for TransCanada’s wind farm project.
The company’s $220 million effort near the Canadian border will be in the spotlight at 6 p.m. upstairs in the Franklin County Courthouse on Main Street.
The details of the tax-increment financing program will be unveiled by the county’s consultant, Gregory Mitchell of Eaton Peabody Consulting Group. The public is invited to comment and suggestions could be incorporated into the draft proposal, said Commissioner Gary McGrane of Jay.
A formal public hearing is set for May 29.
The TIF proposal presented Thursday will include the percentage of the wind farm’s annual $1.1 million property taxes that would be returned to the company for reinvestment into the project for the next 20 years.
The county would also allowed to keep part of the property taxes to use for economic development projects in Franklin County’s unorganized territory.
The draft agreement will also lay out the proposed economic development projects for the unorganized territory that the county can undertake with TIF revenues.
Commissioner Gary T. McGrane of Jay on Tuesday declined to specify the details of the deal before the meeting because some issues are still being worked out.
“We need to capture those tax resources and we are taking into consideration the taxpayers, Franklin County and TransCanada,” he said. “We want to give everyone a piece of the package.”
Some town officials in earlier meetings questioned a TIF’s benefit to towns outside the unorganized territory. Without the tax deal, the project would reduce county taxes. With a TIF, taxes remain about the same.
By Betty Jespersen
Staff Writer
15 May 2008
This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.
The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.
| Wind Watch relies entirely on User Funding |
 (via Stripe) |
 (via Paypal) |
Share:
[ Short URL: https://wind-watch.org/news/?p=53052 ]
