Approving the payment in lieu of taxes for big wind in Chautauqua County on Jan. 23 was an outrageous misuse of taxpayers’ funds.

The Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency should not approve any favorable financial special treatment for any major business, without first doing an objective and comprehensive assessment of the financial impact of that business to the County. No such financial assessment was done by the DA for the Cassadaga wind project. If such an assessment was done, it would certainly be negative.

Here is what Oswego and Jefferson counties think of big wind: “County Says No PILOT to Big Wind” — Oswego News.

The Oswego County Legislature transcript Aug. 10 states:

“WHEREAS, wind energy projects, regardless of their capital investment, produce few permanent jobs for the local economy beyond their construction phase; result in little secondary expenditure in the local economy; do not produce a multiplier effect in the regional economy, and might well have a net negative effect on the economy of a host community….

“BE IT RESOLVED, that any PILOT agreement for wind energy production with a rated capacity of 25 Megawatts, or greater, require annual payments to the County in an amount equal to that which the County would have received in real property taxes ….”

We do have serious energy and environmental problems. We need solutions that are technically sound (e.g. reliable). We need solutions that are economically prudent, and we need solutions that have provably net environmental benefits. For this area, Big wind provides none of these and will result in a net negative economic result for Chautauqua County.

Karen Engstrom is a Mayville resident.