by Alex Brooks
At its workshop meeting on Wednesday, February 6, the Hoosick Town Board was presented with a draft law requiring that the owners of solar installations make a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT). New York State has made solar installations exempt from property taxes unless the Town passes a law opting out of the exemption. Only about 10% of Towns in the State have opted out, but many are instituting PILOTs which require a payment less than the taxes would have been.
Hoosick’s draft law, written by Town Attorney Jonathan Schopf in consultation with Town Board members and Town Assessor Tony Rice, does not specify how much the PILOT would be, or contain any schedule showing the amount of PILOTs in relation to the value or size of the installation. Town Board members said this would be worked out on a case-by-case basis, based on precedents set by existing PILOT agreements in the County or in other nearby towns.
The law exempts residential solar energy systems from the PILOT requirement, defined as an installation of less than 50 kilowatts AC mounted on the roof, walls, or property of a residential dwelling, designed to serve that dwelling. Assessor Rice said these residential systems are typically 3 to 7 kilowatts.
In conjunction with the PILOT law, Schopf also provided a proposed “Inter-Municipal Agreement,” which provides that the proceeds from PILOT agreements shall be collected by Rensselaer County and divided so that the local School District gets 50%, the County gets 25%, and the Town gets 25%.
The Town Board found this PILOT law to its liking, and agreed to pursue its enactment. The next step is to hold a public hearing to present it to the public and hear public comment on it. A Public Hearing was scheduled for Monday, March 11 at 6:30 pm.