December 17, 2020
New York

Broome County IDA will review new tax break application for wind farm project

Jeff Murray | Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin | Dec. 16, 2020 | www.pressconnects.com

A proposed eastern Broome County wind farm has new life after the county Industrial Development Agency agreed Wednesday to entertain a new tax break proposal.

The agency earlier this fall rejected a combined $34 million tax incentive package sought by Bluestone Wind, which wants to build a 27-turbine wind power facility in the towns of Windsor and Sanford.

The project has been met with opposition from a lot of local residents but has secured the necessary state and local permits.

Bluestone Wind was seeking a 30-year payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) agreement from the IDA that would give it a combined $34 million break on sales, mortgage and property taxes over that period.

The new application submitted by Bluestone would reduce the PILOT period from 30 years to 20, with the overall tax savings reduced to about $23 million.

Under that proposal, Bluestone Wind would pay about $231,420 annually to the various taxing authorities, and that amount would increase to about $1 million a year in taxes once the PILOT agreement expires, according to IDA Executive Director Stacey Duncan.

In its original application, Bluestone promised two full-time permanent jobs and 70 construction jobs over the two-year length of the construction process.

Once erected, the turbines would produce enough juice to supply about 20,000 residences at full capacity, Bluestone said.

The IDA governance committee met before the full board meeting, and discussed the pros and cons of the new proposal at length before passing it along without a recommendation.

The full IDA board unanimously agreed to accept the new proposal for consideration and to schedule a public hearing on the application.

A date for that public hearing has not yet been set.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2020/12/17/broome-county-ida-will-review-new-tax-break-application-for-wind-farm-project/