TOWN OF LYME, New York (WWNY) – It burned for days. This fire at a solar farm owned by Convergent Energy and Power was a debacle for the town of Lyme and the surrounding communities.
Now, two years later, Assemblyman Scott Gray claims the company still hasn’t paid its dues. On Wednesday, he sent out a letter, imploring the company to start paying taxes or, at the very least, enter a Payment in Lieu of Taxes agreement, especially since the farm relied heavily on local emergency services. Services Convergent energy didn’t pay a cent for.
“You owe it to the town and the village to compensate them, because look at all the services you just used,” said Scott Gray.
There is a grey area, though. Right now, the company has no legal obligation to pay taxes.
It has a 15-year tax exemption through the state. It has no such deal with local governments.
The county began negotiating a PILOT or payment in lieu of taxes agreement with Convergent years ago, but the process is essentially in limbo. Gray says nothing was ever finalized, and the company has been resistant to further discussions.
He believes it should still compensate the surrounding communities.
“You have a moral and a civic responsibility to pay your fair share of taxes,” said Scott Gray.
We also spoke with Bill Kleftis, a member of “Concerned Citizens for Responsible Solar,” a group based out of Chaumont. He admits he has no love for the solar plant, and says he thinks it’s time Convergent Energy pays its fair share.
“My expectation is that those who are benefiting from the project being there should also pay their fair share of taxes to the local community,” said Bill Kleftis.
We also called Convergent Energy and Power. They haven’t responded, but we weren’t able to reach out to the company until after 5 PM Thursday, after their offices had likely closed for the night. We’ll update our story when and if we hear back
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