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Selectmen told proposed solar project could generate about $2 million in tax revenue
Summary
At the Oct. 21 meeting, Selectman Jerry Martin said a proposed solar project would produce “around $2 million” in tax revenue; Selectman Mark Brooks warned that the increase could raise local school and county levies while reducing revenue sharing.
Selectman Jerry Martin told the board at the Oct. 21 meeting that the proposed solar project could generate "around 2 million" dollars in tax revenue. The remark came during the public-forum portion of the meeting at the Irving Tanning Community Center.
The figure prompted an immediate fiscal concern from Selectman Mark Brooks, who said the town could face higher school and county tax bills while its state revenue-sharing payments decline. "With that kind of increase our School and County Tax will go up and our Revenue Sharing will go down," Brooks said.
A resident, Mr. Greenburg, asked specifically what the tax revenue amount would be; Martin supplied the estimate. Martin also summarized updates from a Solar group meeting Chris held with Elizabeth Swain, though the minutes do not record additional detail of that meeting or an exact project valuation.
No formal vote on the solar project was recorded in the minutes. The topic appears in the meeting under "Unfinished Business," where the board received the update but did not document any motion or next step on the record.
Why it matters: a multi-million-dollar valuation for a local energy project would affect the town’s tax base and fiscal relationships with school and county governments. The minutes show the board is aware of those potential downstream impacts but do not record any staff analysis or an action timeline.
The meeting record does not list a scheduled follow-up or a formal decision on the project.
