SB 902 (Lucas) reported out of the House Finance Committee on February 26 by a vote of 18-3. As initially described in VACo’s January 23 Capitol Contact, the bill makes it a local option to provide certain local tax exemptions for solar facilities of a certain size.
Under current law, solar facilities greater than 20 MW in generation capacity are provided a mandatory 80 percent exemption from local property tax. SB 902 removes this mandate and instead allows localities, at their discretion, to provide a tax incentive for installations up to 150 MW. The bill originally capped the maximum facility size at 100 MW, but this was later amended.
SB 902 reported out of the Senate Finance Committee 13-0-1 and was passed by the full Senate on January 29 by a vote of 33-6-1. The bill now heads to the House floor where it will be heard later this week.
VACo Contacts: Joe Lerch, AICP and Chris McDonald, Esq.