School Districts
$140 Million aid pool backs towns hit by plant closures
The New York proposal would send annual payments to local governments and school districts that lost a big share of plant-linked tax revenue after an electric generating facility shut down. The first-come, first-served program would run only while funding lasts.
Barker Central School District is singled out for longer help, but the bill reaches counties, cities, towns, villages and special districts too. State or local development officials would have to confirm the loss before payments begin.
- Barker Central is the district named in the title.
- Other New York local governments and school districts could qualify too.
- The aid requires at least a 20% loss in property-tax or PILOT revenue.
- Total assistance is capped at $140 million.
- Payments could run for no more than seven years.
In New York, a closed power plant can leave more than an empty building behind. For Barker Central School District, the bill is meant to soften the loss of a major taxpayer by letting the state step in with annual aid when a generating facility inside a district has stopped operating.
The trigger is narrow. The closure has to have cut property-tax collections or payments in lieu of taxes, often called PILOTs, by at least 20 percent.
A state backstop, with a ceiling
The money would come from the Urban Development Corporation and would be available only when funding exists. The total pot could not exceed $140 million, and eligible communities would be paid on a first-come, first-served basis.
The bill is broader than Barker. It covers counties, cities, towns, villages, school districts and special districts, as long as a qualifying generating facility in their borders shut down on or after June 25, 2015. State or local development officials would confirm the revenue hit before payments go out, and the help could last no more than seven years.