Renewables could mean big bucks for county
By Collin Gallant on January 26, 2019.
cgallant@medicinehatnews.com @CollinGallant Three major renewable energy projects now scheduled to be built in Cypress County could provide a windfall for that jurisdiction as it rebuilds its tax base after a collapse in oilpatch activity. This week a federal grant was awarded to a $50-million solar farm planned near Suffield, and in December, substantial windfarm proposals, in Jenner and south of Irvine, won long-term supply contracts from the Alberta Electric Systems Operator. Green power proponents and the top two levels of government say development in the sector provides employment and diversification along with lease payments to landowners and tax stabilization to rural government. Cypress County officials told the News Friday that it’s too early to tell what the implications are for its assessment role or mill rates. It’s likely worth millions in new tax revenue, however. A News analysis shows that if figures from other jurisdictions hold for Cypress County, its assessment base could recover completely from a 13 per cent drop since 2016 in linear assessment related to oil and gas downturn. Cypress County CAO Tarolyn Aaserud said such industrial assessments are done by a centralized provincial office and the regional projects are still years away from taxable status. “As per the Municipal Development Plan, the county does encourage diversification of industry, we are open for business and of course any added industry will help to fill the void left by oil and gas,” she stated in an email to the News. “These projects … are still in the preliminary stages and we don’t have sufficient information at this time, it would purely be speculation.” Their entry into the tax roll might not occur until 2020 or later. C&B Alberta has stated construction on its 202-acre solar farm west of Suffield could be complete by late 2019. The two wind farms are a 202 megawatt facility southeast of Dunmore, proposed by French-firm EDF Renewables, and a smaller 48 megawatt wind facility near Jenner, proposed by Toronto-based Capston Infrastructure. Their contract requirements include operational dates by 2021. Total spending by those private companies in not known, but for comparison, the Capital Power’s Whitla Wind project has a construction budget of about $325 million. A potential tax bill for the turbine array south of Bow Island is cited to be $2 million annually to the County of 40 Mile. That figure would account for close to 10 per cent of the tax revenue in any year for Forty Mile, which has been hampered by bankruptcies in the oil and gas sector and unpaid tax bills. Last month, Cypress County as well, wrote off $750,000 in back taxes from oil and gas companies that were three or more years overdue and considered uncollectable. In 2016, linear assessments on oil fields, pipelines and wells accounted for half the revenue in the county of 7,500 residents that has a $32-million municipal services budget. Tax rates are set in relation to the assessment to meet a specific amount of revenue, called the requisition, set out in the budget. If the assessment rises and the budget remains static, rates drop. Over the past year Cypress County officials debated a tax-bridging strategy to seek out more stable revenue and spending patterns. In recent years a 13 per cent drop in the linear class (made up of industrial property, pipelines and power infrastructure) forced tax planners to raise business taxes by a commensurate amount. For the 2019 budget year, council approved a plan to drop small business taxes, while raising all others in line with inflation. It expects residential rates to rise by about 2.3 per cent, including one per cent assessment growth when the 2019 rates are set. 21
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