National Wind Watch: Wind Energy News » Groton’s county tax bill up 190 percent

GROTON – The county portion of the tax rate for town residents is going up – by 190 percent.

The increase reflects the first year of taxation of Groton Wind, LLC, Iberdrola Renewables’ $120 million, 48-megawatt, 24-turbine wind project that went online in December 2012, according to Julie Clough, Grafton County’s executive director.

“The town will see an extremely large increase because of the first year on the books for Groton Wind,” Clough said.

Clough said the county will see an overall increase of $207,772 in the county portion of its taxes this year.

Over the last five years, the county’s portion of the town tax bill ranged from 8 to 13 percent.

Town officials, who issued a statement Wednesday saying they had no comment on the matter, said the exact impacts of tax increases in any portion of the town tax bill have not yet been determined.

In 2011, the selectmen signed a 15-year payment in lieu of tax agreement with Iberdrola to pay the town $528,000 in the first year of operation; payments are to increase each year.

Town officials said the company has been making its payments.

The 2012 Groton town budget was about $546,000, not including warrant articles, so the agreement with Iberdrola brought a windfall roughly equal to the amount of the town’s budget each year.

Nancy Watson, a resident who has attended many of the public meetings on the project, said the wind-energy plant’s payment to the town “will cover the county tax bill.”

But the tax bill is eating into the windfall the town had expected, she said.

“It will be interesting to see my December tax bill,” Watson said. “Unfortunately, for Groton’s taxpayers, a large percentage of the town’s proceeds (from Groton Wind) will now go to paying county taxes.

“It is obvious the Groton Wind revenues will no longer come close to equaling the town’s budget as promised,” she said.