Tax breaks for solar may end in Granville

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By Dan King

Following the lead of the towns of Hampton and Hartford, the town of Granville is considering opting out of the tax exemption for solar power.
The town board agreed last Thursday to set a public hearing at 7:45 p.m. on Thursday, July 14, after which the board will vote on whether to opt out of the solar exemption.
Only Councilman Tom Cosey said he is opposed to opting out.
“I’m for solar,” Cosey said.
The other four members said they would like to opt out of the solar exemption, meaning that any new solar projects would not be granted the tax breaks that are currently implemented by a state statute.
“The town of Hampton has a law before the board, and the town of Hartford is considering one as well. It’s basically to deny exemptions for solar and wind,” said Supervisor Matt Hicks.
If the board votes to opt out, some projects will be grandfathered in and maintain exempt status. The question board members debated Thursday was what the cutoff date should be for projects to be grandfathered in.
When Hicks asked when board members wanted the exemption to go into effect, Councilman Ken Quick retorted, “yesterday.”
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Cosey said, “It would make sense that anyone who’s in the process before today is in. If someone is close (to completion) we may want to delay (the opt out).”
Board members’ main concerns revolved around confusion as to how many projects were currently underway. Hicks said he would have town assessor Dan Boone bring a list of current solar and wind exemptions to the board’s July 14 meeting.
Cosey said his main worry was not removing the exemption from residents who are “seriously invested” in a solar project.
Councilman Matt Rathbun agreed, saying, “If they’ve put the paperwork in and they’re expecting it, I’d hate to say ‘no’.”
Other area towns have dealt with solar in different ways. The town of Whitehall voted last month to place a three-month moratorium on the installation of solar farms. However, Whitehall did not opt out of the tax exemption. The town of Hartford has set a public hearing to opt out of the tax exemption and implement rules regarding the installation of solar panels. The town of Hampton, like Hartford, is also considering opting out of the exemption.