MidAmerican Wind Property Tax

It looks like the MEC property tax issue is turning into a mini-series.

 A few turbines of MidAmerican’s Pomeroy project are located in Calhoun County. I recently stopped at that counties assessor office to check the assessed values of the wind project.   The Calhoun County turbines are part of the third phase of construction of this project. 

I was very surprised to find that the turbines are assessed at $3.1 million each, lower than the $3.6 million the same turbines are assessed in Pocahontas County.  They were installed at the same time. 

Again, there was no valuation placed on underground cable connecting the turbines.  If this is the case at all of MECs wind projects in Iowa, Counties might be missing out on quite a bit of revenue, considering my $5 million cable estimate in Pocahontas county alone ( see previous post).

The Calhoun assessor also informed me that MEC submitted valuations and the county accepted them. The filings weren’t available for review by the public. She also mentioned that the department of revenue was involved in the process, though she didn’t offer details. 

Overall, The Calhoun county assessor was professional. I’m going to submit a written request for the filings and see if they will provide them.  I imagine they won’t provide any more information than the Pocahontas filings though. 

Its harvest season, so look for new posts when it rains.