Good—maybe even better than good—news came out of Monticello Monday:
Schoharie County’s lawsuit challenging the state’s authority to decide how to tax large-scale solar and wind is still in play.
“The battlefield has shifted a little,” said a cautious Don Airey of Blenheim, who’s been leading the fight.
“Judge Farrell said ‘Let’s hear the argument.’ We’ll see where it goes from here.”
Acting for the New York State Supreme Court, Monday, Sullivan County Judge Jim Farrell heard oral arguments in the Article 78 lawsuit supervisors filed in April.
He had a number of options—including dismissing the case.
But instead, Mr. Airey said, Judge Farrell ruled the county had “standing” in the case—the right to file the legal challenge—and set a November 15 date for an evidentiary hearing—a chance for both sides to present the facts.
“The judge was very diligent in addressing both parties,” Mr. Airey said. “[Attorney] Dylan [Harris] said he was very tough.”
Attorneys for the state Attorney General’s Office and the Department of Tax and Finance argued the county didn’t have standing in the case “which we thought they’d do,” Mr. Airey said.
Mr. Harris argued they certainly did, pointing to the impact of the NextEra project in the Town of Sharon on town, school, and county taxes using the state’s formula—revised while the project was under construction.
Judge Farrell agreed.
“There’s no hiding the fact that we’ve cleared the first hurdle,” Mr. Airey said.
“This is all we’re ever asked for: our day in court on what we’ve always felt is a viable case. It’s about as good news as we could have expected.”