ATHENS — The Coxsackie-Athens Central School District has filed a claim against Flint Mine Solar, LLC, the Greene County Industrial Development Agency and the towns of Coxsackie and Athens.
The claim was filed in New York State Supreme Court, County of Greene, on June 30.
The claim alleges that the school district has been deprived of $11 million due to a Payment in Lieu of Taxes, or PILOT, reduction given to Flint Mine Solar in exchange for outside payments to the towns.
According to the claim, the district was excluded when the IDA reached an agreement with Flint Mine Solar to a per-megawatt PILOT charge reduction from $8,750 per megawatt to $5,000 per megawatt in exchange for more than $15 million in payments to the towns of Athens and Coxsackie outside the PILOT structure.
“These payments were in addition to money being set aside for decommissioning and other costs required by the State and did not serve to offset any particular costs,” according to the claim document.
Because of the megawatt reduction of the PILOT, the school district was deprived of its fair share of revenue, according to the claim.
“The District is entitled to its proportionate share of the total amount of money that should have been included in the PILOT except for the Industrial Development Agency’s unlawful, arbitrary and capricious acts,” according to the claim document.
C-A will also lose New York State Education Department aid because the IDA parcels are located within the school district and will increase the district’s property wealth ratio determined by New York State Aid to School District formulas, according to the claim.
IDA Director April Ernst and IDA attorney Paul Goldman of Goldman Attorneys, PLLC, of Albany, said Wednesday that the school district’s allegations and calculations are misguided.
“The district’s claim doesn’t have any merit,” said Goldman.
The filing asks the State Supreme Court to nullify the PILOT agreement. According to the document, the Coxsackie-Athens Board of Education authorized the legal action May 25, 2023. The claim was filed in State Supreme Court by attorney James A. Gregory of Syracuse-based Ferrara Fiorenza, PC, counsel for the Coxsackie-Athens School District.
The PILOT agreement between the IDA and Flint Mine was negotiated in fall 2022 to facilitate the construction of a 100-megawatt solar farm on property located partly in the Town of Coxsackie and partly in the Town of Athens. A public hearing on the arrangement was held Oct. 4, 2022.
Public sentiment toward the project at the time was mixed. According to transcripts of the hearing, members of the public expressed concerns about the environmental impact of Flint Mine’s clearing, excavating and grading soil on hundreds of acres of land in a watershed. Some speakers also alleged that the corporation was receiving unfair tax breaks.