The new solar farm proposed for a Maybrook site will not be paying any real property taxes, but it will be making payments in lieu of taxes (PILOT).

Carson Power wants to construct two 3.45 megawatt solar facilities on a nearly 82-acre site bordered by Maybrook Road, Highand Avenue, Prospect Avenue and Logan’s Way on the village’s southwest side. The project will only use about 29 acres, with the remaining acreage to be deeded over to the village. The megawatts produced will be integrated into the Central Hudson Gas & Electric substation on Maybrook Road.

Carson Power is in the midst of a lengthy approval and planning process with the village and planning boards. Negotiations between the village and the developer for the PILOT payments is the latest development.

“We’ve been working on negotiating these PILOTs for about six months,” Mayor Dennis Leahy said. “During that time period, the State changed the method of calculating PILOT payments, so additional negotiations were needed.”

N.Y.S. Real Property Tax Law 487 provides for a 15-year real property tax exemption for solar facilities, but does permit municipalities to enter into a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) agreement with such facilities. A PILOT agreement is a legal agreement between a business project and a municipality which allows a company to make property payments on an agreed schedule instead of paying the standard tax amount.

Although the Carson Power solar farm is one project, it is classified as two facilities, Solar 1 and Solar 2, each on a separate lot. So there are two separate PILOT agreements. The PILOT for Solar 1 calls for a payment of $9,541.77. For Solar 2, the PILOT is $10,638.47. Total is $20,180.47 with a two percent yearly increase up to 15 years. Although each solar project will produce the same megawatts, the PILOT for each differs because of the difference in tax rate for village properties in Hamptonburgh and those in the Town of Montgomery.