Policy:
Opportunity and Need to Improve the Property Tax Approach for Solar and Storage in New York
December 11, 2019
NYSEIA Proposal to Standardize PILOTs through Legislation
• Seek legislative amendment to RPTL 487 through collaboration with NYSAC, NYSAA/Assessor Community, AOT, SSBA, etc.
Legislation would:
• Institute standardized $/MW-ac/year PILOT payment for 25 year term for all solar projects greater than a certain size based on Region/Utility Territory and Segment (distributed vs transmission-level), and clarify % directed to each of the three jurisdictions
• Continue and clarify exemption for residential and small commercial systems below a certain size
• Clarify inclusion of Special Districts and underlying land treatment in each of the above • Provide exemption from Tax Cap for 487 PILOTs
• Requires general concurrence with assessors and counties/towns that standardized PILOTs reasonably reflect valuations and resulting taxes using the most accurate income-based/discounted cash flow assessment methodology
Standardized PILOTs would:
• Greatly streamline process and allow the deployment of solar projects in line with state goals
• Eliminate legal risk and cost, time, and controversy for local jurisdictions
• Eliminate risk and unnecessary increased costs for developers/investors/customers
• Strongly support communities and improve trust between developers and taxing jurisdictions