FARMINGTON — Franklin County commissioners will hold an informational meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 16, on a proposed amendment to the 2008 tax-increment financing agreement the county has with TransCanada Maine Wind Development Inc.

The meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the Superior Court room at the Franklin County Courthouse.

A second informational meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 6, in the Carrabassett Valley/Eustis area with a specific location to be announced.

A public hearing on the proposed amendment is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 4 at the County Courthouse.

TransCanada installed 44 wind turbines on Kibby Ridge in Kibby and Skinner townships that fall under the TIF agreement. It was estimated in 2008 that the development would cost $270 million to build.

Over the 20-year life of the agreement, the wind energy facility was estimated to add approximately $220 million in value to the county’s unorganized territory.

Under the proposed amendment, the current 20-year agreement would be extended to 30 years, said consultant John Cleveland, president of Community Dynamics Corp. The Auburn firm was hired by the county to work on amending the agreement.

A 75 percent cap on retaining new taxes in the current agreement on assessed value over the original $455.952 value of the property would be lifted to allow for 100 percent of the taxes to be retained.

The county would continue to reimburse TransCanada at 60 percent of the new taxes retained and keep 40 percent of the tax dollars to be dedicated to economic development projects in the unorganized territory. The amendment would allow for some projects to be done that would improve economic development in the entire county.

The original TIF had called for the cap of retained taxes to drop to 50 percent for the last 10 years of the agreement.

More categories are also being proposed to use the money on. While the county expected to be able to gain a maximum $4 million over 20 years under the current agreement, it is estimated it will garner about $12 million in the 30-year agreement for economic development.

The county has about $2.7 million in its account from the TIF as of July 31. The county spent $788,950 as of June 30. There is about $70,000 owed for outstanding projects that have been approved but not paid out, according to county Financial Manager Vickie Braley.

dperry@sunmediagroup.net