FARMINGTON - A consultant specializing in tax-increment financing deals and economic development and a representative of TransCanada are scheduled to meet with Franklin County commissioners Tuesday.

TransCanada proposes to build a $270 million, 44-wind turbine project on Kibby Mountain and Kibby Range in Kibby and Skinner townships in northern Franklin County near the Canadian border.

The Maine Land Use Regulation Commission voted unanimously Jan. 14 to have its staff draft an approval recommendation for the project. That recommendation is expected to go before LURC by spring.

Kiersten Tucker, a TransCanada spokeswoman, confirmed Thursday that the discussion at the commissioners' office at 9 a.m. Feb. 19 at the Franklin County Courthouse would be about a tax-increment financing program.

Commissioners said in January that they would consider discussion on a TIF if TransCanada, a Canadian-based energy company requested it.

Greg Mitchell of Eaton Peabody Consulting Group LLC gave commissioners an overview in January about tax-increment financing programs, specifically one that was approved for a Stetson Mountain wind power project in Washington County.

Mitchell recommended if commissioners want to capture some new tax revenue to support economic development in unorganized territories, then planning needs to take place before a proposed wind power project's value is counted toward the county's state valuation.

"Tax-increment financing is a financing program whereby taxes on the incremental new value of development is used to fund the economic development programs and projects included in the development program," according to information Mitchell presented to commissioners.

Peabody had explained different ways that a TIF could be set up. An agreement could be set up where the county takes some of the new tax revenue and turns it back to the project in a credit-enhancement program. Or a TIF district could be set up to take a portion of the revenue to fund county-based economic development. Or the county could set up a TIF program with all the captured tax revenue going to a county economic development fund and none going back to the project.

In the Stetson Mountain case, the project was estimated to be valued at $100 million, of which $80 million could be assessed as tax revenue, Mitchell previously said.

The TIF program was set up so 60 percent went back to the project and Washington County retained 40 percent. The average annual tax revenue generated is estimated to be about $450,000 in that project over the 20-year period, Mitchell had said.

The revenue captured in the unorganized territories, that normally would have gone to the state, was applied to support economic development, and it means the value doesn't get counted toward state valuation, Mitchell said.

Prior to commissioners' approval of any TIF agreement, it would first go to a public hearing before the panel voted on it and then would to go before the state for approval.