A Republican lawmaker is proposing to raise taxes on Missouri farmers who participate in wind or solar energy projects.
As utilities and energy developers increase solar and wind power, people in rural areas across the nation have been offered opportunities to lease their land to house a wind turbine or a field of solar panels.
A bill proposed by Rep. Danny Busick, a Newtown Republican, would change the tax rate for agricultural land that is leased for solar or wind energy generation by reassessing it as commercial property.
Busick’s district covers Kirksville and north central Missouri. His bill would nearly triple the assessment rate for agricultural land that hosts energy infrastructure.
“It is a tax increase,” Busick said, “but I think it is designed to try to be fair to the players in this game.”
According to the legislative research division, agricultural land is currently assessed at 12% of its value. Utility, industrial and commercial land is assessed at 32%. These baseline figures are then multiplied by the local county tax rate to determine a property tax bill.
In a hearing this week, Busick said farmers who participate in renewable energy projects shouldn’t be charged as if their land is only for agriculture.
“My purpose is not to attack farmers,” he said, “but when you repurpose your land for another purpose outside of agriculture, I think you should pay your fair share in that sense.”
Busick said the bill would exclude land where corn or soybeans is cultivated for biofuel production.
Scott Swain represents the Clean Grid Alliance, an advocacy group, and spoke in opposition to the bill. He said large-scale wind and solar power plants are an essential part of the state’s future energy generation.
“They’re putting a lot of money into communities and so we don’t want to necessarily tax them out,” Swain said. “If we do want to tax them out, then we need to raise the tax and nobody will come to the state, and that will probably settle a lot of concerns. I don’t think that’s where we want to go.”
This story originally appeared in the Columbia Missourian. It was published by the Missouri Independent with permission to be printed in print or online.
