Legalectric

In today’s St PPP Letters to the Editor:

Why give utility a tax break?

Apparently $10 million from the Renewable Development Fund, exemption from certificate of need, and the power of eminent domain is not enough for the Excelsior Energy coal gasification project. Rep. Loren Solberg and Sen. Tom Saxhaug created legislation that grants personal property exemption to a power plant that is “designated as an innovative energy project.”

This effort to deny traditional revenue to the host community, in this case Itasca County, deserves to get squashed. After all, the reason communities allow large polluting utilities to build in the first place is to receive needed revenue for schools and infrastructure. I guess the thinking at the Capitol is that while homeowners see their property taxes rise, utilities should be relieved of property taxes altogether.

JULIE RISSER

Edina