Are Wind farms a big enough windfall for Lewis County communities?

May 15, 2013 — Wind farms are a touchy subject in the North Country. As the town of Cape Vincent wrestles with a potential project, in neighboring Lewis County another wind farm has been operating for seven years. The Maple Ridge Wind Farm has brought some big changes to its community.

Michael Tabolt, chairman of the Legislature(Lewis County), says the county's economy benefits in other ways besides taxes – about 30 residents work for the wind farm. And leases for turbines are an important contribution to farm income.

Further north, BP's proposed wind project in the town of Cape Vincent has many residents concerned about the impact on their property values. A recent Clarkson University study found that wind farms in two other upstate New York counties depressed property values between 10 and 20 percent – but Lewis County seems immune to that problem. Economics professor Martin Heintzelman says that might be because of differences in the landscape or setbacks from homes, or "It's also possible that the people in Lewis County might – and this is obviously a broad generality – but it may be that they don't mind the turbines as much as people in other places."[NPR]
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 Is Lewis County's Wind Farm Wind fall enough? Six months after choosing not to seek a sales tax rate increase, Lewis County legislators on Tuesday May 7, decided to ask for state permission to do just that.[ Watertown Times]

 Link below to read more about Lewis counties efforts to increase sales tax

Area counties see sales tax increase, particularly Lewis
APRIL 16, 2013
  [Watertown Times]


Lewis legislators narrowly defeat sales tax hike proposal  
DECEMBER 5, 2012
[Watertown Times]


legislator floating sales tax hike
 NOVEMBER 28, 2012
 [Watertown Times]