First Wind farm would lower property tax bills

County Assessor Joe Reynolds talks with an audience in Oakesdale about the taxing districts most affected by the wind farm.

Adding a $170 million wind farm to the tax rolls in northern Whitman County would lower taxes across the county, but some in the neighborhood are asking if it’s worth it.

First Wind has proposed a 9,000-acre wind farm of as many as 65 turbines that could produce as much as 100 megawatts of power on Naff Ridge and Steam Shovel Hill west of Oakesdale.

County Commissioner Greg Partch and Assessor Joe Reynolds presented their value estimates of First Wind’s wind farm at a forum at the Oakesdale School last Wednesday, April 20.

Partch said he organized the meeting to inform Oakesdale residents of how the wind farm would affect their property tax bills, especially with the school asking for a $4.2 million modernization bond.

Reynolds estimated $80,124,000 of the project’s assessment would be in Oakesdale taxing districts.

That would more than double the current $63,615,763 assessed value of property in Fire District 10 and the $69,695,080 value of the Cemetery district.

The Oakesdale School District currently has a value of $88,500,606.

By doubling the value of the property within those districts, the project would cut in half the rates at which taxes are levied.

“They’re going to pick up almost half of it by the time the project is completed and taxes are collected,” Reynolds said.

Reynolds said the current $3.76 maintenance and operation levy for the school would be reduced to $2.13.

Total tax levies within the taxing districts in the Oakesdale area would drop 25 percent from $12.38 per $1,000 to $9.30.

Gail Parsons, a member of the Oakesdale School Board, said the wind farm would reduce the anticipated levy for the school’s proposed $4.2 million remodel bond from $3.13 per $1,000 assessed value to $2.47.

The taxing district around Thornton would include $53,416,000 of the project.

That additional value would lower residents’ levy total from the Rosalia school, rural fire and EMS, cemetery and parks district from $16.52 per $1,000 to $12.64.

Another $26,708,000 of the project would be located in St. John school, fire and cemetery districts.

Reynolds said that would shave $1.01 off the total levy that is currently $10.02.

Countywide, the wind farm would save rural residents $.34 per $1,000 on their property taxes.

Those within city limits would see a $.18 reduction.

Some people at the meeting were skeptical Reynolds’ estimates would ever come to fruition.

“Will the tax valuation be about what it is for the Hawkins Development?” asked Susan Heise of Farmington.

Heise has written letters to the editor in opposition to the bond measure.

Many citizens at the meeting were concerned the proximity of their land to the wind farm would decrease the value of their land.

“This is great for many tax bills, but what is going to happen to the value of my property with these turbines right next door?” asked Bruce Haley.

Declining property values were cited in the appeal of the environmental impact statement filed by 17 neighbors of the proposed wind farm site.

“I can’t guess at that without having any real market data,” Reynolds responded.

Tom Stokes, a real estate agent with Windemere in Walla Walla where wind farms have been active for more than a decade, said opposition to wind farms in southeast Washington and eastern Oregon has grown over the past few years, but real estate prices have not fallen on properties located near wind farms.

“As the turbines get closer to homes, you certainly do start to hear more people with a negative view of them,” said Stokes.

“But I haven’t seen land values adversely affected by wind turbines.” Turbines, he added, have actually increased the value of land leased to wind power companies.

Those leases, he said, typically last 25 to 30 years and can bring in as much as $17,000 per year.

“A farm with five turbines on it can actually see more income from wind turbines than it does off a wheat crop,” said Stokes.

First Wind’s application for a conditional use permit will be presented at a hearing in Colfax May 9.

Residents who have appealed the environmental impact statement for the project will also have an opportunity to present their arguments.