Limerick nuclear plant to make additional tax payments under settlement

LIMERICK — The Limerick nuclear power generating station will continue to make tax payments to the township, the Spring-Ford Area School District and Montgomery County under a settlement approved recently by all three taxing bodies.

The previous agreement, reached in 2013, expired in 2023 and set the assessment for the power plant property and buildings at $20 million. The new settlement increases the plant’s property assessment to $21,218,840 — a 6% increase — and does not expire until 2033.

Both settlements have a similar structure.

In addition to paying property taxes based on the agreed assessment, the power plant will make additional annual “payments in addition to taxes,” or PATs. All that has changed is the amount, according to a review of both agreements provided through a Right to Know request to Limerick Township.

Under the previous settlement in 2013, additional payments to Spring-Ford started at $1.65 million and increased by $50,000, or 3%, every three years. When that agreement concluded, the power plant was paying an additional $1.75 million annually above the school property tax bill.

A similar arrangement was in place with Limerick Township as well, with PAT payments starting at $81,019 in 2013 and reaching $85,929 by 2023; also increasing roughly 3% every three years.

The power station’s PAT to Montgomery County has remained the same through both agreements — $345,720.

There is one caveat to the PAT payments, in both the previous agreement and in the newly approved agreement.

Should the regular property tax payment exceed a 3.5% annual increase in any given year, the amount of the PAT will reduced “dollar for dollar to account for any increase above 3.5%.”

As a result of the new agreement, Constellation Energy Generation LLC, the legal owner of the power plant, will make annual payments in addition to taxes to Spring-Ford School District of $1.8 million from 2024 to 2026, provided the tax rate does not exceed 3.5%. In 2027, those payments will increase by $50,000, with the same caveat, and by another $50,000 in 2030.

For Limerick Township, payments in addition to taxes will begin at $88,507 in 2024; increase to $91,162 in 2027 and then again to $93,897 in 2030; all with the same 3.5% tax hike caveat.