"Power plant gets $100m break; Westfield shaves property taxes" by Todd Wallack, Globe Staff | April 2, 2010
It turns out Liberty Mutual Insurance Co.’s $38.5 million tax break wasn’t the largest one approved by a state economic development board on Wednesday after all.
Related: State Handing Out Tax Loot to Liberty
As they cut your services and raise taxes!
According to documents released after the board meeting, the Economic Assistance Coordinating Council also ratified a $100 million tax break for a new power plant in Westfield — bigger than the tax breaks given to Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., Liberty Mutual, and some other major employers that are building large facilities in Massachusetts.
But unlike the Liberty Mutual and Bristol-Myers deals, only a sliver of the subsidy is coming from state taxpayers....
Westfield offered the company a 15-year deal that would shave the plant owner’s local property taxes by more than half. The net worth of that reduction is $99.5 million, documents show.
The company behind the Westfield plant is a subsidiary of Energy Management Inc., the Boston power company that is trying to build Cape Wind, the wind-turbine farm in Nantucket Sound.
Related: Cape Wind Clean Up
Also see: Cape Wind backers blew right by cost
I think you got took, Westfield!
Larry Smith, the city’s director of community development, said Westfield hired a consultant to figure out how large an incentive it needed to offer to entice the developer to build there. Smith said it is common for power plants to receive large incentives, because the plants require huge amounts of investment and generally face steep taxes on their equipment.
Even with the large tax incentive, Westfield said it will still come out ahead.
That is what they always say.
See: Those Are the (Tax) Breaks in Massachusetts
It's fun throwing away tax loot to those who do not need it, isn't it?
The city will net nearly $2.5 million in additional revenue, a substantial amount for a community its size. The site location is currently empty and generates little tax revenue.
“Something is better than nothing,’’ said State Representative Donald F. Humason, a Republican from Westfield. “This was a fairly competitive siting process, and the principals had several other options.’’
Matt Palmer, the project manager for the Westfield plant, said the company would have been forced to find an alternate site in another city without the aid.
“The project simply wouldn’t have been viable,’’ Palmer said. “When you add that kind of tax burden, the project makes no sense.’’
The company plans to begin construction late this year and open in late 2013, creating 200 construction jobs and 16 permanent full-time jobs.
Those will save the economy that has lost tens of thousands.
Palmer said it will be the city’s largest taxpayer, even with the discount....
Overall on Wednesday, the council approved tax breaks to eight companies potentially worth $27 million off their state taxes, and an estimated $124 million off their local property taxes.
As services are slashed.
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Related:
"$500m power deal cuts costs; For first time, group can pay wholesale" by Joel Brown, Globe Correspondent | April 14, 2010
An energy-buying group that includes hundreds of Massachusetts nonprofit organizations and government agencies has signed a $500 million, four-year contract to buy electricity at a discount....
PowerOptions members include a variety of organizations, from the Partners HealthCare System to the Italian Home for Children in Jamaica Plain....
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