School districts are major contributors to environmental destruction in Texas. Pollution and hazardous waste in north central Texas from the solar and wind farm industry will have long lasting impacts on the environment and landscape for decades in north central Texas. This has become a major point of the legal challenges that have been filed in Texas against school districts that have executed billions of dollars of lucrative tax abatement agreements with solar and wind farm companies and owners.
School Districts are Major Contributors to Environmental Destruction in Texas
Click Here- To Watch “Red Power” a video documentary by Michael Quinn Sullivan with the Texas Scorecard about the solar and wind farm industry and the inherent problems that have been ignored by elected leaders and school officials in Texas. School districts are major contributors to environmental destruction in Texas.
Click Here- To See the Report for Solar Farm Damaged by Major Hailstorm in Texas
It has been a battle like no other for taxpayers in north central Texas since 2019 to expose fraud and corruption regarding lucrative tax abatements executed by dozens of school districts in Texas. School districts are subsidizing the Green Energy industry and the solar and wind industry on the backs of taxpayers in Bosque, Ellis, Falls, Hill, Limestone, McLennan and Navarro Counties for over more than a decade.
The contracts were originally known as Chapter 313 Agreements before the 88th legislature pulled a fast move and let the 313 provisions expire in December of 2022 but then turned around and passed legislation allowing the same tax abatement structure under a new name, The Jobs, Energy, Technology and Innovations Act (JETI) without the general public or taxpayers even knowing what was going on. These contracts relieve big business from paying local school taxes to fund schools with locally available tax revenues that would provide significant property tax relief to residents and homeowners within their taxing jurisdiction(s).
The tax abatement agreements are prepared by lawyers and consultants paid for by the solar and wind farm companies by reimbursements issued by checks from the state comptroller’s office. Taxpayers have not been allowed to attend these negotiations done behind closed doors without third-party representation for taxpayers with experience in the energy industry. School officials have refused to cooperate with formal written requests under the Open Records and Freedom of Information Act for meeting minutes and details to the contracts that have been executed. These issues are also accompanied by major issues regarding annual budgets and bond referendums where taxpayers have been impacted financially.
Taxpayers have taken the fight to the federal level due to the lack of response by local school officials, Texas Education Agency and the Attorney General’s Office of Texas. The level of fraud and corruption is widespread and has major impact on school funding and finances that impact annual operating cost and bond debt(s) in Texas schools. These complaints and cases have been filed with the FBI, DOJ and SEC at the federal level. The state of Texas and local school officials have denied taxpayers and homeowners due process and ability to participate in the process. Local school superintendents and serving board members will face criminal and civil charges regarding their participation and involvement regarding these contracts. It was never intended for school districts to become involved with complex tax strategies, laws, and provisions that benefit business at the expense of taxpayers.
The recent news and investigations into the solar and wind farms being constructed in north Texas is in regard to the environmental impact and consequences of equipment and systems at the end of their life cycle. This issued has surfaced after one solar farm in Hill County has filed for bankruptcy after multiple name changes. One solar farm that executed a contract with Itasca ISD has already had name changes that make it difficult to acquire documents and tax records. These issues have been highlighted in the federal cases filed to date.
School districts are major contributors to environmental destruction in Texas. Solar panels contain heavy metals and wind turbine blades are made from carbon fiber composites integrated with steel fibers that make them difficult to recycle. These issues are still being investigated and exposed in Hill and surrounding counties at this time.