Many municipalities and land owners are turning to solar farms as a new revenue source in the present and the future, and the farms could lead to increased tax bases for local towns and school districts. During its meeting on Oct. 17 at Ostrander Elementary, the Wallkill Board of Education passed a resolution to opt out of tax exemptions for solar projects moving forward.

The resolution states that: “Said tax exemptions do not apply within its jurisdiction for any facilities constructed after the effective date of this resolution.” “If a solar farm came into the district, based on the law, they could be tax exempt,” Wallkill Superintendent Kevin Castle said. “So the value that increases as a result of the solar panels being on land could be tax exempt. By opting out, the increased value is fully taxable. So that in turn would help out the homeowners within that municipality.”

The resolution covers all future solar farm projects. “It’s for any projects moving forward,” Castle said. “So if there were any projects where there were contracts already signed, it would not be applicable to them. We would have to negotiate a pilot. But for any projects moving forward, they would be fully taxable. The Town of Shawangunk and other local school districts have already opted out.”

During its meeting on Thursday evening, the district received a clean fiscal bill of health from Jennifer Capicchioni of the Nugent & Haeussler firm, who presented the district’s 2018/2019 audit report. “It was a favorable report,” Caste said. “We were real pleased with our financial condition. The auditor who was present did share that, that we’re in good financial condition as a result of our reserves and fund balance that we have established. It’s the result of the long-term forecasting of our budgets, that long-term planning. We were pleased to hear that. But we still have that issue of what our state aid increase will be each year. That’s still an issue at hand.”

Castle was recently invited to take part in a roundtable discussion in Yonkers with a dozen state senators and additional district superintendents. Senators James Skoufis and Jen Metzger were both present at the session, where Castle spoke about his concerns regarding the state’s Foundation Aid funding. “I provided alternate solutions to them, including giving districts more flexibility in how we use our reserves if in fact the state is unable to come up with more money,” Castle said. “I also shared with them that our wealth measures, in regards to adjusted gross income and property wealth, is below the state average. Back in 2006-2007, it was below the state average. But back then, when the year after Foundation Aid came into place, we received a significant increase in state aid as a result of our wealth measures. Our wealth measures continue to still be below the state average, yet now we’re getting a very minimal increase in state aid. So I shared that with them. It was an honor to represent the Wallkill school district there and to speak to the 12 senators.”

The roundtable discussion was the first of five such events slated to take part in the state this fall.