The Chesterfield County Citizen

Just imagine, in your wildest dreams, that a letter from your county tax assessor is delivered to you, and in that letter, you find out that your property taxes will decrease!  Just think, the longer you live in your house, the less you pay taxes.  Well, guess what? The chance of that happening to you is slim or nil, and Slim went to lunch.  Of course, if you are a developer of solar arrays, it is your lucky day since that is precisely the deal you will get.

In South Carolina, the counties and state offer substitute fees instead of property taxes to attract new businesses. These fees are negotiated for defined periods. What is most attractive, though, to solar array companies is that these fees will decrease as time goes by.  So as the cost of living increases for all of us, these companies will pay less, while you and I will pay more.  Great deal, right?

Now, the idea of substitute fees for property taxes is not a bad idea when it is used correctly.  Let’s say that a company is thinking of coming to South Carolina.  Normally, this would mean an increase in the labor force as the company fills its need for employees.  With more South Carolina citizens working, this would mean an increase in tax revenues (income and sales) for the state and the same for counties (sales and property).  But one has to wonder, what are the benefits of giving a sweet deal like substitute fees to a solar array company?  They produce no long-term increase in the labor force, so that no additional tax revenues will be seen.  The only reason I can think of is someone is profiting from offering these deals.

If solar arrays are such a great idea, why do the citizens of Chesterfield County need to subsidize them? It is time for the county council to stop the destruction of Chesterfield County’s beauty and tell these companies to build their arrays somewhere else, like in their backyards!