LETTER: Power Plant Will Have No 'Positive Impact' on Oxford Taxpayers

There will be a referendum in Oxford on February 11 in which residents will have the opportunity to vote on Board of Selectman approved agreements between the Town of Oxford and CPV Towantic, LLC, the power plant builder. These agreements would fix payment in lieu of taxes to the town.

There has been no disclosure by the town of how the numbers were calculated, nor how the negotiation process was conducted. There is little information to make a decision on, other than “$112 million over 22 years is a great deal.” Little mention is made of the fact that the payment schedule is back-end weighted, with small amounts coming in the first ten years.

I suggest there are other factors to consider. First, if your home depreciates 6% because of the power plant (a modest number), it will take you 26 years to recover your loss. Second, if Pulte stops building at Oxford Greens because no one wants to buy in the shadow of the smokestacks, the town stands to lose $3.2 billion in annual taxes from 500 homes which won’t be built. These homes would have been occupied by 750 to 1000 people who would have greatly contributed to the commerce of Oxford.

Taking these numbers into consideration, there will be no positive impact on Oxford taxpayers for the first ten years of the agreements. And who knows if this plant will maintain its capacity factor, and still be operational in year eleven?

I am against the construction of the power plant, but if we must be stuck with it, the Town of Oxford must negotiate much more favorable terms with CPV Towantic. I don’t want to sell my health for a few hundred dollars in tax savings ten years down the road.

Wayne McCormack
Oxford, CT