The Enid News and Eagle, Enid, OK

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Discussion

April 29, 2009

In addition to energy, wind farms will bring in $$$ for school districts

By Robert Barron, Staff Writer

Wind farms will become a reality in the Enid area, and in addition to the energy they will produce they will be one of the largest assessed items in the county.

Garfield County Assessor Wade Patterson said he does not know yet what the value of the wind farms will be, but he probably will value each tower separately. A 1.5-megawatt tower costs an estimated $2.5 million to construct. Figured at the 15 percent personal property assessment, he said, that tower would be valued at $375,000. That amount, as-sessed at the average millage of .088 mills, is about $33,000 per tower, with 85 cents of each dollar going to local school districts, or $28,000 per tower, Patterson said.

Cherokee Wind Farm, a project of RES Energy, plans 400 turbines for a 600-megawatt farm. At $2.5 million per tower, he said, that totals $1 billion, or $150 million in assessed valuation. At .088 mills, that would mean $13.2 million coming to the county in property taxes.

“It will be by far the largest valuation in the county. No one else even comes close to it,” Patterson said.

Patterson does not yet know how many school districts will be involved, but estimates Kremlin-Hillsdale, Chisholm, Pond Creek-Hunter, Billings, Covington-Douglas, Pioneer-Pleasant Vale, Mulhall-Orlando and Perry could be involved.

The wind farm is expected to go east and south, around Enid. There is no date to go online yet, but RES officials project they will start construction by 2010. Pat-terson said if the wind farm comes to fruition, it will be a benefit to the area.

Another energy company, Trade-Winds Energy, also is obtaining leases and will be present at the Garfield County Commission meeting Monday.

Garfield County has worked with RES and even is considering a tax increment financing district to assist the company with construction costs. Patterson said the money could be used to improve roads and bridges in the wind farm areas, which also would benefit area farmers and schools.

There is a possibility the farm could be even larger, he said. It will be wholly owned by RES and therefore locally appraised and taxed.

School superintendents in Kremlin-Hillsdale and Pond Creek-Hunter were cautious, saying the amount would certainly be beneficial if it is more than they receive in state aid.

Steve Hoffsommer, superintendent of Kremlin-Hillsdale, said he does not know how many turbines will be in his district, but said if the numbers Patterson quoted are accurate it could be a big help. Hoffsom-mer said the school building fund now barely pays utilities, and if the building fund received significant funding increases it could allow district officials to begin saving for future projects.

Joel Quinn, of Pond Creek-Hunter, said whatever is received from the wind farm would be lost in state funding. However, if the amount is more than state aid, it would be beneficial.

“It depends on how many towers are in my district and if ad valorem gives more than we get from the state,” Quinn said.

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