ALBANY, New York — A court ruling invalidating the state’s property tax assessment calculation for renewable energy could upend wind and solar development in New York.
According to a decision issued Monday by Judge Joshua Farrell in Albany Supreme Court, state lawmakers failed to provide enough direction to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s (D) tax agency on how to value wind and solar for tax assessment purposes under the 2023 state budget.
Local governments first challenged the state methodology for assessing the value of wind and solar projects in 2022. In the latest case decided earlier this week, they argued they were losing out on tax revenue because the Department of Taxation and Finance didn’t include income from tax credits and state renewable contracts in their model.
“This is not a minor inconsistency or minor disagreement,” Farrell wrote in his decision. “The difference is a magnitude of 340 percent.”
