A new state law signed by Gov. Janet Mills will result in putting nearly $93 million of Maine Yankee property back on Wiscasset’s tax roll.
Wiscasset officials shared the news during the select board’s regular meeting Tuesday, April 2. L.D. 2027, an “Act to Clarify the Property Tax Exemption for Air Pollution Control Facilities,” was co-sponsored Sen. Cameron Reny, D-Bristol, Rep. Ed Polewarczyk, R–Wiscasset, and Rep. Alison Hepler, D-Woolwich.
On Thursday, March 28, the Maine House voted for enactment 109-8. On Monday, April 1, the Senate followed suit, 24-9, and Mills signed the bill into law Tuesday, April 2. The new law effectively puts $93,820,000 million of Maine Yankee property back on the town’s tax roll.
In September 2023, the Wiscasset Select Board adopted new property valuations for the Maine Yankee. The new valuation increased Maine Yankee’s tax bill from $600,000 to roughly $1.5 million.
Following the expiration of a negotiated 20-year property tax agreement between Maine Yankee Atomic Power Co. and Wiscasset in 2022, Maine Yankee filed for a property tax exemption in late 2022, saying the independent spent fuel storage facility located on roughly 11 acres on Bailey Point counted as an air pollution control measure.
The storage facility consists of 60 sealed steel canisters of spent nuclear fuel and four canisters of Greater than Class C nuclear waste, leftover from the operation of the Maine Yankee nuclear power plant, which was active between 1972 and 1996. The plant was decommissioned beginning in 1997.
The steel canisters are housed inside massive concrete and steel casks placed on concrete pads in the open air facility. Each cask is monitored remotely from a security facility next to the storage facility.
In March 2023, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection determined the storage facility counted as a pollution control facility and was therefore tax exempt. Following an appeal by the town of Wiscasset, the Maine Board of Environmental Protection upheld the DEP decision in October 2023.
Wiscasset officials agreed the spent fuel storage facility did contain radioactive waste but contended it did not merit a tax exemption intended for equipment that reduced air pollution
According to a press release read by Wiscasset Town Manager Dennis Simmons at the April 2 meeting, more than 40 items of testimony were submitted, with the overwhelming majority testifying in favor of the bill. The town was assisted and guided through the process by its legal team of Peter Murray, Sarah McDaniel, Tim Walton, and the legislative advocacy team at Walton External Affairs.
In a statement prepared by Murray and read by select board Chair Sarah Whitfield, Murray said the new law makes it clear that the independent spent fuel storage installation maintained by Maine Yankee in Wiscasset will not be exempt from municipal real estate taxation as pollution control equipment.
“This measure strengthens the town’s hand immeasurably in assessing Maine Yankee’s Wiscasset real estate and personal property fairly and equitably along with the rest of the property in town,” Murray said. “It should open the door to meaningful and fruitful negotiations with Maine Yankee in hopes of reaching a satisfactory assessment value. If negotiations do not work out, the removal of the pollution control exemption will materially increase the level of assessed value that can be sustained on appeal. This is a very good development for the town.”
Murray went on to say the new law has been made retroactive to cover the 2023 tax year, so that the board can decide to make a supplemental assessment on the formerly exempt property for that year. It will also positively affect the current tax year by potentially doubling the maximum potential assessment.
“The proof of the pudding will be a big boost in Maine Yankee’s tax payments to Wiscasset, but it is worth celebrating this step along the way,” Murray said in his statement.
Simmons said the issue is not over and he does not know what Maine Yankee will ultimately end up paying. Simmons said he anticipates more negotiations are likely.
“There is a lot of work yet to do” Simmons said.
The Wiscasset Select Board will next meet at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, April 16 in the municipal building. For more information, go to wiscasset.org.
