Town Board hears BESS pilot‑payment proposal; developers seek grandfathering

The Town Board opened a public hearing on a proposed local law that would require commercial battery energy storage system (BESS) projects to enter a payment‑in‑lieu‑of‑taxes (PILOT) or pilot agreement with the town rather than receiving full statutory tax exemption. The proposal mirrors the town’s approach for commercial solar by putting prospective projects and the town on notice to negotiate community benefits and a payment schedule.

Representatives of Catalyze/Catalyzed Energy and other developers testified. They asked the Town Board to grandfather projects that had already submitted a notice of intent or were in active review, arguing that ongoing negotiations and earlier municipal commitments mean those projects should not face retroactive compulsory PILOTs. Developers also pressed for clarity on how the pilot would be calculated—per megawatt rates versus a negotiated payment—and said excessive or ad hoc charges could make projects financially unviable.

Why it matters: Under current state Real Property Tax Law provisions, certain BESS installations are tax‑exempt unless a municipality and the project negotiate a PILOT. The town’s local law would require new commercial BESS proposals to come to the town and discuss a pilot for town taxes; village and school district participation remains separate and would require their local action to capture revenue for those districts. The town assessor explained that if the town enacts a pilot law projects would need to agree town taxes; villages and school districts may opt in by passing their own measures.

Next steps: The board agreed to adjourn the hearing to July 22 to leave time for continued negotiations between developers and the assessor (grievance season aside) and to allow the village(s) and school districts to coordinate. Parties may continue to negotiate PILOT terms in the interim; the Town Board said it would consider grandfathering language and clarified that the town portion of tax revenue is distinct from village or school decisions.

What they said: • "We would like to be grandfathered," said a Catalyze Energy representative, noting the company had existing approvals and had invested in the project while awaiting municipal guidance. • The assessor advised that if villages and school districts do not adopt similar pilots, projects could remain tax‑exempt for those jurisdictions; the town’s law would only affect town taxes.

The board left the hearing open and adjourned to July 22.