Port Jefferson's LIPA Task Force Calls For Public Meeting on Feb. 17

After postponing a meeting in 2010 to gather more information and test the , a new public meeting has been scheduled by the Port Jefferson LIPA Task Force for Thursday, Feb. 17 at 7 p.m. in the Sail Loft Room at .

At the public information meeting the representatives of the LIPA Task Force will discuss the future of the LIPA power plant in Port Jefferson and the impact a potential loss of tax revenue will have on the village's school, government and library services. The task force consists of members of the , the , the and the .

The LIPA Task force issued a letter dated Jan. 2011 that announced the public meeting as well as outlining some of the issues and concerns that the group has been dealing with.

The letter opened by stating that “the task force has continued to research, review and gather additional information concerning the economics of ‘repowering’ (replacement of the current plant with a highly efficient new one in its place).”

The task force has also been in discussions with all major players including Long Island Power Authority, National Grid, local politicians as well as representatives in Albany and Washington D.C.

Many of the issues were formally outlined in the letter and should be open for discussion at the public meeting.

One of those concerns is the purchase power agreement between LIPA and National Grid that will expire in 2013. Although the agreement ends two years from now, the use of the Port Jefferson power plant continues to decline, affecting the taxable value of the property. In addition National Grid can stop purchasing the plant’s output of energy before the expiration date in 2013, further degrading its value.

The task force has convinced LIPA to expand a request for proposal it has put out for additional sources of energy to include repowering projects at larger plants like the one in Port Jefferson.

The task force has also been in touch with the Brookhaven Town Assessor to talk about the specific issues regarding the tax certiorari (a property tax appeal.)

"This was important," the task force said in the letter. "As it is the Town of Brookhaven which has standing in the current lawsuit as they collect our school, library and fire department tax revenues."

The goals of the LIPA Task Force are to repower the plant so that it can continue to be a valuable taxable asset in the community; to assert the highest reasonable value for the existing power plant; and secure a phase-in of tax reduction to mitigate the impact of a reassessment and potential tax hikes to the community.

"Though LIPA does understand its obligation to Port Jefferson as a ‘host community’, we nonetheless must face the reality that the ultimate outcome may be painful to our community,” the task force said in its letter. “It is the complexity of the multiple issues involved that leads to the uncertainties relative to timing and magnitude."

You can read the full letter from the LIPA Task Force on the Port Jefferson village website here.