Tax expert Dale Cummings said Gamesa has reviewed the abatement agreed to with BP Energy and said the proposal would also fit their plans.
We’re not seeking anything better than that, Cummings said. That seems to be a reasonable agreement, and we’re hoping you’ll come to an agreement with Gamesa like you did with BP.
Cummings said the first step commissioners would need to do would be to create a reinvestment zone. To get to that step, Gamesa must first cement its plans and let the county know what property needs to be included. Cummings said Gamesa hoped to have that done in two weeks. He said the company would come back to commissioners May 25, 2009 with a formal application and hoped to have the reinvestment zone and the abatement agreement completed in June 2009.
We’d like to move down the path toward an agreement with you as rapidly as possible, Cummings said. We’d like to do it right.
By following the BP plan, the county would abate 100% of the taxes for 10 years with Gamesa agreeing to pay the county a certain fee every year based on megawatts produced. The Gamesa plan is about half the size of the BP proposal.
