Tax revenue promises are just that. Promises.
Townships and counties like ours should not trust promises of tax revenues from large industrial corporations financed from out of country/state entities who design and construct industrial wind turbines. This is because promises of local revenues by a wind developer are just that, promises.
“multiple interviewees claimed that the wind industry outright “lied” about the funding that would go to schools after wind farms were built” Excerpt from University of Oklahoma Graduate Thesis, Woody, T. When the wind comes right behind the’ … sales pitch: alternative views to wind energy development in a rural Oklahoma host community, https://shareok.org/handle/11244/326606
Wind developers make promises of money to local governments. They fail to inform residents and our elected officials that the assessed value of a wind turbine decreases exponentially after year 1.
In addition, “The State Tax Commission has changed the formula for taxing wind turbines twice, in 2011 and again in 2014, after the Michigan Tax Tribunal initially approved guidelines in 2007 that “was deemed acceptable to everyone.” Also, “since 2012, utilities and private developers have filed 1,109 tax appeal cases with the Michigan Tax Tribunal, and currently 594, which have been consolidated by wind park into 17 separate cases, are pending.” (Morning Sun, June 22, 2021)
Furthermore, a recent legal ruling supports this claim because on June 22, 2021 the Michigan State Tax Commission ruled in favor of large utilities on how wind turbines are taxed. This decision, the first of many to follow, will cost local governments with wind farms millions and millions of dollars in past and future revenues (Morning Sun, June 22, 2021).
Please beware of their bait and switch tactics.
Gratiot County Board chair Chuck Murphy “characterized the State Tax Commission actions as a “bait-and-switch,” with wind parks developed under one taxing formula and then changed as more came online.”
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Tax revenue promises are just that. Promises.
Townships and counties like ours should not trust promises of tax revenues from large industrial corporations financed from out of country/state entities who design and construct industrial wind turbines. This is because promises of local revenues by a wind developer and their Wall Street investors are just that, promises.
Wind developers make promises of money to local governments. And yes, wind turbines do qualify as real personal property. However, the rate at which they are taxed decreases exponentially starting in year 1; therefore, revenues decrease exponentially which means less and less money after year 1.
Circle Power also estimates tax revenues generated over a 30-year life time of the project to increase the size of their promise. However, the engineering reality is these machines will have a life time of 15-20 years max, before they end up in a landfill. So the promise of 30 years of revenue is simply false.
In addition, “The State Tax Commission has changed the formula for taxing wind turbines twice, in 2011 and again in 2014, after the Michigan Tax Tribunal initially approved guidelines in 2007 that “was deemed acceptable to everyone.” Also, “since 2012, utilities and private developers have filed 1,109 tax appeal cases with the Michigan Tax Tribunal, and currently 594, which have been consolidated by wind park into 17 separate cases, are pending.” (Morning Sun, June 22, 2021)
Furthermore, a recent legal ruling supports this claim because on June 22, 2021 the Michigan State Tax Commission ruled in favor of large utilities on how wind turbines are taxed. This decision, the first of many to follow, will cost local governments with wind farms millions and millions of dollars in past and future revenues (Morning Sun, June 22, 2021).
Please beware of their bait and switch tactics.
Gratiot County Board chair Chuck Murphy “characterized the State Tax Commission actions as a “bait-and-switch,” with wind parks developed under one taxing formula and then changed as more came online.”