To gain insight into how the dam might impact the city of Lebanon’s budget I spoke with Lebanon City Planner David Brooks. He mentioned that the dam would most likely pay property taxes,possibly give some of its extra revenue to the city and maybe even affect the city’s water supply. All of these possibilities are full of unanswered questions, but are factors that the city and the developer will have to keep in mind during negotiations. Each factor is discussed in greater detail below.
Property Taxes: City Planner Brooks and Grafton Hydro President Tom Tarpey (the developer for this proposed dam) both mentioned that the dam would contribute property taxes of approximately $20,000-$25,000 per year to the city’s budget. Whether this money will increase the town’s budget, or be given back to the residents through minor homeowner property tax decreases is unknown. But either way the dam would be positively contributing to Lebanon’s budget through property taxes.
Supplemental Payment: In other similar hydropower situations, the hydropower company gives some of its profit from selling electricity to the city. In this Mascoma River proposal, details as to whether or not this would happen have not yet been established. But this is nonetheless an important possibility to keep an eye on.
City Water Supply:Currently the town of Lebanon operates a water treatment facility to turn Mascoma River water into drinkable water. There is a cost associated with this process, and the town has to pay workers to manage this process. However, City Planner Brooks speculated that a dam could increase sedimentation buildup near the water treatment plant and make the water dirtier. This dirtier water would then take more processing, more workers to do this processing, and possibly even more expensive machinery to make it drinkable. All of these increases make purifying dirtier water more expensive for the town. It is too early to tell whether or not this will be an issue, but the water quality and the costs associated with purifying it are an economic aspect of this case study that must be considered.