LOCATION/TYPE

NEWS HOME

[ exact phrase in "" • results by date ]

[ Google-powered • results by relevance ]


Archive
RSS

Add NWW headlines to your site (click here)

Get weekly updates

WHAT TO DO
when your community is targeted

RSS

RSS feeds and more

Keep Wind Watch online and independent!

Donate via Paypal

Donate via Stripe

Selected Documents

All Documents

Research Links

Alerts

Press Releases

FAQs

Campaign Material

Photos & Graphics

Videos

Allied Groups

Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005.

News Watch Home

Proposed law could spell tax trouble for wind farms 

With turbines at the Twin Groves Wind Farm now up and running, the owners are getting ready for a big bill – the first McLean County tax assessment for Horizon Wind Energy.

McLean County board member Tari Renner admits, “We did work very hard to get this project in eastern McLean County.” Twin Groves benefits from low taxes, thanks to being deemed an “enterprise zone.” However, a proposed state bill could bring those low local taxes to an end.

House Bill 380 would create a uniform standard for calculating property taxes based on the wind farm’s construction costs. We did the math, and the bottom line for Twin Groves: $3.37 million. Renner says, “Four million dollars to most people is a lot of money. Maybe not to Bill Gates, but it certainly is.”

Horizon has budgeted a set range they hope will meet the tax rates at the end of the year, but a Horizon spokesman says a tax more than $3 million would be at the highest end of that range. In fact, Horizon says it would be a worst case scenario for their business. Renner hopes the state will give them some leeway, saying “The trade-off might be that Springfield passes legislation to increase our power to give enterprise zones to companies.”

Renner says he understands why lawmakers want to equalize taxes, but he worries it will discourage future wind farm projects from coming to McLean County. Renner says, “I would hope that at the very least we would be given extra tools with enterprise zone legislation to be able to keep the attractive incentives there for the companies that we’d like to bring to our community.”

By Katie Burcham

ciproud.com

24 April 2007

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
   Donate via Paypal
(via Paypal)
Donate via Stripe
(via Stripe)

Share:

e-mail X FB LI TG TG Share


News Watch Home

Get the Facts
CONTACT DONATE PRIVACY ABOUT SEARCH
© National Wind Watch, Inc.
Use of copyrighted material adheres to Fair Use.
"Wind Watch" is a registered trademark.

 Follow:

Wind Watch on X Wind Watch on Facebook

Wind Watch on Linked In Wind Watch on Mastodon