Exelon statement fell millions short

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BYRON - The assessed value of the Byron Generating Station will be more than was listed in a joint statement issued recently by Exelon Nuclear and the Ogle County Intergovernmental Agency. Byron School Superintendent Margaret Fostiak said Tuesday that, under the terms of a new agreement, the fair market value of the plant will be more than the $2.7 to $2.88 billion listed in the Oct. 31 press release. "The range is actually $2.8 to just under $3 billion. That will make quite a difference," said Fostiak, who also is the chairman of the intergovernmental agency. The agency comprises the 12 taxing districts that draw real estate taxes from the plant. According to the tentative agreement, which has been approved by eight of the 12 taxing districts, the assessed value of the nuclear plant will be $450 million for 2008, $460 million is 2009, $470 million in 2010 and $480 million in 2011. The lower fair market value stated in the press release would have translated into an average assessed value of only about $433 million from 2008-2011, the 4 years covered in the agreement. The assessed value set by the Ogle County Board of Review for 2007 was $455.2 million, which resulted in Exelon paying a total of $29.9 million in taxes for the plant this year. Ogle County Newspapers obtained a copy of the agreement Tuesday after filing a Freedom of Information Act request with Kim Krahenbuhl, the attorney for the Oregon Park District and Rockvale Township, both intergovernmental agency members that already have approved the agreement. Ogle County State's Attorney Ben Roe declined to release the tentative pact or details of it after the Ogle County Board approved it on Oct. 28. Roe said the agreement would remain the product of pending litigation until all 12 taxing bodies had approved it and a related lawsuit was settled. "All the taxing districts had agreed not to release it until after it had been signed by everyone," Roe said Tuesday. "I'm trying not to jeopardize anything." However, Byron School District attorney Stuart Whitt said Tuesday afternoon that the pact could be released by the districts that have already approved it. Negotiations between Exelon and local governments have been going on for 3 years. The tentative agreement was reached after two mediation sessions conducted by Judge Val Gunnarsson. The mediation stemmed from a lawsuit filed by the Byron School District in 2007 against Exelon. The other taxing bodies, as well as county officials, the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board and the Ogle County Board of Review, later were named as defendants in the lawsuit. The agreement will not be final until it has been approved by all 12 taxing districts and Gunnarsson. He is expected to make his ruling at a hearing on Nov. 25. The tentative pact would settle the lawsuit and numerous tax appeals filed between 2005 and 2008. It also sets the amount of taxes Exelon will pay each of the taxing districts for each of the 4 years. Exelon has agreed to make two payments in lieu of taxes - one in 2009 and the other in 2011 - to each of the taxing districts. The payments total $4.6 million. "[The payments] are a negotiating tool," Krahenbuhl said. "It's a way of keeping the assessed value a little lower, while keeping the revenues up where the taxing bodies need them to be." Fostiak said the approval of all 12 taxing districts is necessary. "If even one votes it down, we're back to the bargaining table," she said. Fostiak expects, however, that all 12 will approve it. "A representative from each has been in on the mediation sessions," she said. "We're hopeful that by Nov. 18 all of the board will have approved the agreement, so that it will be ready for Judge Gunnarson on Nov. 25." Krahenbuhl said the agreement is beneficial to both sides. "It's a fair settlement for everyone," he said. "It's going to add a lot of stability in budgeting for all the taxing districts. And Exelon will know what they're paying."