The new wind mandate undermines the original justification for the wind-energy property tax exemption. Both the wind industry and local government officials agree that wind-energy facilities should now pay property taxes. But no agreement exists regarding the method and level of taxation. This paper addresses that issue, explores various tax-strategy options and offers guidance for state policymakers.
Wind energy can be a boon to Minnesota's remote rural counties.
The two counties with the highest wind speeds, Lincoln and Pipestone, will be the earliest beneficiaries of this kind of development. All five counties in that corner of Minnesota boast wind speeds sufficient to promote significant wind developments. As wind-energy technologies advance and electricity can be competitively generated at lower wind speeds, more than a dozen other counties will become prime development sites. Some county may benefit economically by becoming home to a major wind-turbine assembly or manufacturing plant. For most counties the greatest economic benefit will come in the form of wind developers' lease payments to landowners and tax payments to local governments.