Editor’s note: This article is by Mike Faher of the Brattleboro Reformer, in which it was first published Sept. 25, 2014.
VERNON — The Vernon Selectboard is set to enter into negotiations with Entergy to determine how the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant will be valued for tax purposes after March 31.
That’s when the town’s current tax-stabilization agreement with Entergy expires. While that contract had kept the plant’s value relatively steady, the tax valuation could change drastically in the next agreement given that Vermont Yankee is scheduled to shut down at year’s end.
The Selectboard has scheduled an Oct. 3 meeting with an Entergy representative to begin talks.
“I think that they’re probably going to have a proposal, and then we’re just going to hammer it out back and forth — that’s how the process will go,” Selectboard Chairwoman Patty O’Donnell said.
Entergy announced in August 2013 that Vermont Yankee would cease producing power by the end of 2014. While the company will retain ownership of the property during a likely lengthy decommissioning process, the land’s tax value is expected to sharply decrease due to the fact that the Governor Hunt Road parcel no longer will host a working power plant.
That’s bad news for Vernon, where Entergy makes up roughly half of the municipal tax base.
Selectboard members and voters already have made significant cuts in the town budget.
But Vernon also caught a break when the Selectboard and Entergy negotiated a one-year agreement that valued the plant at $280 million for tax purposes.
That was just a $20 million decrease from the former tax value, in spite of the fact that Vermont Yankee will close several months before the agreement expires on March 31.
At the time, an Entergy spokesman said the company was “pleased that we were able to reach a fair agreement with the town of Vernon that provides the town with some certainty for their near-term planning needs.”
There’s no telling, however, what the next tax-stabilization agreement — if there is one — will look like. Asked for comment on the process, Entergy issued a short statement this week.
“Entergy will be meeting with the Town of Vernon on Oct. 3 for negotiations on a new tax-stabilization contract,” a spokesman said. “We are hopeful that we can reach an agreement.”
O’Donnell didn’t go into specifics, but she noted that the town’s tax negotiations are based on a different set of facts this time.
“They will be closed, so there is a difference,” she said. “The (current) tax year we negotiated, they’re only closed (three) months of that tax year. The next one we negotiate, they’ll be closed for the whole year.”
If a tax agreement is reached, the Selectboard will approve it in open session, and the contract will be a public document. But the talks leading up to that announcement won’t be open to the public.
The Selectboard voted to warn a 10 a.m. meeting on Oct. 3 to start negotiations with Entergy, and “it is anticipated that we will be going into executive session,” O’Donnell said.
Mike Faher can be reached at mfaher@reformer.com or 802-254-2311, ext. 275. Follow him on Twitter @MikeReformer.
