Indian Point: Spent nuclear fuel rods could be taxed, expand revenue for communities

New legislation passed in the state Senate and Assembly would help two municipalities and a school district impacted by the closing of the Indian Point nuclear power plant cope with the loss of tax revenue once they are signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul.

Those beneficiaries — the village of Buchanan, town of Cortlandt and the Hendrick Hudson School District — for years have received substantial property tax revenue for the Indian Point plant.

The last working unit at the plant was deactivated last year, and the plant is now going through the decommissioning process.

State Sen. Pete Harckham and Assemblywoman Sandra Galef sponsored the legislation, passed last week, that would allow spent nuclear fuel rods stored at the plant to be taxed as real property. It was not immediately clear when Hochul would address the legislation.

Similar legislation, the nation's first of its kind, sponsored by the two lawmakers that was passed in 2020 and signed by then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo in January 2021 added spent fuel pools and dry cask storage systems to the state's definition of real property.

The property owner, which is now Holtec International, is responsible for those tax payments.

The legislation creates a revenue stream for the village, town and school district, which are now facing massive declines in tax revenue with the closure of the plant.

Joseph Hochreiter, superintendent of Hendrick Hudson, said the legislation would produce unanticipated but much-appreciated revenue. It is not yet known exactly how much revenue would be produced.

"We could use it to reduce a tax increase, or we could create more programs for the kids," Hochreiter said.

The school board would decide how to use the revenue as part of the annual budget-making process, Hochreiter said.

Buchanan Mayor Theresa Knickerbocker issued a brief statement thanking Harckham and Galef "for their continued support as we go through and deal with the loss of our largest taxpayer."

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She previously told The Journal News when the earlier bill was signed, "It's a win for the community. It will help with the real impacts that come with the closure of a nuclear power plant, but we need to remember that it's not a long-term fix. This spent fuel can be moved off the property eventually."

In a statement, town of Cortlandt Supervisor Richard Becker said, "The decommissioning of Indian Point has created major concerns for our residents, some of which can be put to rest thanks to our two state legislators."

Hochreiter predicted others beyond the village, town and school district will be watching the bill's fate. He said the state still has a functioning nuclear power plant upstate near Oswego, and the same solution probably will be applied there when that plant closes.

Harckham said it was "imperative" to introduce this bill "to protect residents and small business owners so they do not have to shoulder this financial challenge themselves," especially as the state continues to rebound economically from the COVID-19 pandemic.

"For decades, the municipalities and school district around Indian Point received substantial tax revenue to help support their cost of operations, and this bill will ease the transition financially for them," Harckham said.

Harckham and Galef noted that spent nuclear fuel rods are being stored at Indian Point and other nuclear power plants across the state and country. The federal government so far has not provided a permanent home for the spent fuel rods.

Mike Randall covers breaking news for the Times Herald-Record, the Poughkeepsie Journal and the Journal News/lohud. Reach him at mrandall@th-record.com  or on Twitter @MikeRandall845

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Indian Point's spent nuclear fuel rods to be taxed in Buchanan