Hallowell OKs gas pipeline tax deal
The city of Hallowell has given an initial OK to a tax increment financing deal for a proposed 56-mile natural gas pipeline through the region.
City councilors on Monday voted 4-3 in favor of the TIF in the first of three required votes on the issue, supporting a deal that would save the city $1.3 million over 30 years, according to the Kennebec Journal. The TIF would reimburse Kennebec Valley Gas Co. 80% of its property tax payments for 10 years and 60% for five years, totaling about $800,000, and would exclude the pipeline’s value from city valuations for 30 years to reduce the amount of money Hallowell owes for education funding, county taxes and state revenue-sharing. Opponents to the TIF said municipalities shouldn’t subsidize the project.
Kennebec Valley Gas Co. in August received initial state regulatory approval for the $85 million pipeline. A committee representing the 12 communities from Richmond to Madison gave initial support to a TIF plan, but the company must get approval from each community through which the pipeline will be built. Augusta officials have approved a tax break, but voters in Farmingdale over the weekend rejected a TIF, forcing the company to find a way to build the pipeline around the community.
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