MACOMB – Wind energy development could have a significant tax revenue impact on capital outlay projects within the Macomb 185 School District, where Superintendent Dr. Patrick Twomey said that some 95% of revenues from wind farms in the district could go to the school as funding for new projects.
A brand new Career Technical Education (CTE) center to provide training opportunities for rural communities is a project currently being talked up by area stakeholders with the City of Macomb, Spoon River College, and MAEDO along with the big local manufactures NTN-Bower, Yetter, and Pella with whom the Macomb superintendent said he intends to meet with before his next board meeting in August of this year.
The gears turning behind the giant fan blades generating megawatts of power spur the growing momentum of wind energy. Development projects can have a significant financial impact for rural education developments. School revenues are tied to local land property values, and there is an inherent limitation on how much revenue might be accrued from local taxes towards projects with expensive long-term overhead costs, like a new CTE center.
The VIT Community Unit School District No. 2 recently opened its own CTE center in March of this year with all new construction, and if Macomb schools were to follow suit, Twomey said that a new building might cost somewhere in the $4-6 million range, and he spoke about the possible options for funding for the new CTE project.
“We have some really good fund balances. We still have a good amount of money sitting in transportation that we can do one-time transfers from, but that’s not enough. So, we would be looking at what the revenue stream from the wind farm would be, and don’t have an exact date, yet, on when they plan on construction. Once that happens, we’ll get a good view of what point we could bond money against the proceeds coming from that farm.” said Dr. Patrick Twomey following a Macomb School Board meeting this past Monday. The wind farm is located directly east of the city a little north of the 9-mile corner all the way up past the Village of Industry.
“Construction is definitely going to happen”, Twomey said, “because all of the land contracts are completed, signed, and it’s just a matter of time when construction actually starts. With all the gears beginning to move in the same direction, I believe the commitment is there in terms of speed-to-deliver because we’re committed here in Macomb School District to get this done as soon as possible because we really believe this (rural CTE) is a missing link we have in our education system here.”
