The Seabrook Board of Selectmen yesterday announced that a three year tax agreement with NextEra, the owner of the Seabrook Station nuclear plant, had been achieved. The agreement covers FY 2018-2019-2020, and calls for NextEra to make tax payments of $36 million to Seabrook over that three year period. The payments will be annualized at $12 million. This agreement follows the last two year agreement that covered 2016-2017 that was worth $24.75 million. The assessment for Seabrook Station for FY 2018 was $849,858,400.
The national nuclear power industry has had rough times over the past few years. There have been multiple plant closures that have already occurred, with as many as nine plant closures scheduled for the next few years, including the NextEra owned Duane Arnold plant in Iowa. The challenges in that industry translate to difficult negotiations for the Board of Selectmen. They should be commended for their work here.
The agreement comes after the close of the fiscal cycle of 2018. In that period the Town of Seabrook assessed the plant at a value that resulted in a tax bill of $12,500,000. Although the Board was not required to abate that amount (the $500,000 could have been offset against the next two years of tax payments) they have determined, for legal and strategic reasons, to abate the FY 2018 over-payment.
This agreement was the result of long hours and much hard work by the Seabrook Board of Selectmen. Town Assessor Angela Silva was instrumental in reaching this agreement. Our thanks to NextEra, who worked diligently with the Town to reach this agreement.
Bill Manzi.com 