Wind farm tax bill signed today

July 10, 2019 – Governor Mike Parson signed House Bill 220 into law today, allowing wind farms to continue to be assessed locally for property tax purposes, even if they are later purchased by utilities. The bill was sponsored by Rep. Allen Andrews, pictured above speaking at the bill signing ceremony, and handled in the Senate by Senator Ed Emery.

Property tax on property used by an electric utility to generate electricity is normally distributed among many counties, rather than just being distributed to the county where the generating plant is located. This bill was necessary to prevent a loss of local tax revenue by counties where wind farms are located if the farm is eventually purchased by a utility.

The bill provides a task force will be set up to determine some of the finer points and the task force report is due before legislators return for the 2020 legislative session.