Solar Farm Doubts
To the Editor:
According to the State Comptroller’s Office, a tax abatement is an agreement between a local government and a property owner to exempt part of the taxes owed in return for improvement to the property and to attract development to their jurisdictions. This is a direct statement and I refer you to comptroller.texas.gov for verification. Given this statement, how exactly does the proposed solar farm benefit the 25,000 + residents of Fayette County? Will it reduce your electricity bills? Will it provide viable options for residents to choose energy providers? Will it provide jobs? Will it attract other economic development in the area? Think about it and refresh your memory on the Georgetown, Texas solar fiasco. We have a fully functional power plant which provides adequate and affordable energy to our county. It also provides hundreds off full time, year-round jobs to tax paying and revenue producing individuals. This plant has been environmentally conscious and I refer you to the LCRA website for further information on these efforts. Fayette County does not need to subsidize another solar project. Any tax revenues forecasted, which supporters argue is incentive enough to approve the tax abatement reinvestment zone, will be long in coming.
I strongly encourage our Commissioner’s Court to oppose granting this tax abatement reinvestment zone. Instead of acres of undisturbed natural beauty we’ll have thousands of glaring, lithium laced, unsightly, and expensive solar panels. Oh yes, but I’m told blackberry vines will be planted to make it more aesthetically pleasing. Yeah! This project is nothing more than an effort by climate alarmists, progressives and solar companies, to push their ideology and failed business models.
I believe in private property rights and if these owners are so inclined to have a solar farm on their property, then build it on your own dime and honestly – start smaller and expand. Perhaps it will be wildly successful and other landowners will be clambering for a piece of the pie. I have my doubts.
Connie Sacco
La Grange