2012 Nebraska Revised Statutes
Chapter 77 - REVENUE AND TAXATION
77-6203 - Nameplate capacity tax; annual payment; exemptions; Department of Revenue; duties; owner; file report; interest; penalties.

77-6203. Nameplate capacity tax; annual payment; exemptions; Department of Revenue; duties; owner; file report; interest; penalties.

(1) The owner of a wind energy generation facility annually shall pay a nameplate capacity tax equal to the total nameplate capacity of the commissioned wind turbine of the wind energy generation facility multiplied by a tax rate of three thousand five hundred eighteen dollars per megawatt.

(2) No tax shall be imposed on a wind energy generation facility:

(a) Owned or operated by the federal government, the State of Nebraska, a public power district, a public power and irrigation district, an individual municipality, a registered group of municipalities, an electric membership association, or a cooperative; or

(b) That is a customer-generator as defined in section 70-2002.

(3) No tax levied pursuant to this section shall be construed to constitute restricted funds as defined in section 13-518 for the first five years after the wind energy generation facility is commissioned.

(4) The presence of one or more wind energy generation facilities or supporting infrastructure shall not be a factor in the assessment, determination of actual value, or classification under section 77-201 of the real property underlying or adjacent to such facilities or infrastructure.

(5)(a) The Department of Revenue shall collect the tax due under this section.

(b) The tax shall be imposed beginning the first calendar year the wind turbine is commissioned. A wind energy generation facility commissioned prior to July 15, 2010, shall be subject to the tax levied pursuant to sections 77-6201 to 77-6204 on and after January 1, 2010. The amount of property tax on depreciable tangible personal property previously paid on a wind energy generation facility commissioned prior to July 15, 2010, which is greater than the amount that would have been paid pursuant to sections 77-6201 to 77-6204 from the date of commissioning until January 1, 2010, shall be credited against any tax due under Chapter 77, and any amount so credited that is unused in any tax year shall be carried over to subsequent tax years until fully utilized.

(c)(i) The tax for the first calendar year shall be prorated based upon the number of days remaining in the calendar year after the wind turbine is commissioned.

(ii) In the first year in which a wind energy generation facility is taxed or in any year in which additional commissioned nameplate capacity is added to a wind energy generation facility, the taxes on the initial or additional nameplate capacity shall be prorated for the number of days remaining in the calendar year.

(iii) When a wind turbine is decommissioned or made nonoperational by a change in law or decertification from its status as a certified renewable export facility during a tax year, the taxes shall be prorated for the number of days during which the wind turbine was not decommissioned or was operational.

(iv) When the capacity of a wind turbine to produce electricity is reduced but the wind turbine is not decommissioned, the nameplate capacity of the wind turbine is deemed to be unchanged.

(6)(a) On March 1 of each year, the owner of a wind energy generation facility shall file with the Department of Revenue a report on the nameplate capacity of the facility for the previous year from January 1 through December 31. All taxes shall be due on April 1 and shall be delinquent if not paid on a quarterly basis on April 1 and each quarter thereafter. Delinquent quarterly payments shall draw interest at the rate provided for in section 45-104.02, as such rate may from time to time be adjusted.

(b) The owner of a wind energy generation facility is liable for the taxes under this section with respect to the facility, whether or not the owner of the facility is the owner of the land on which the facility is situated.

(7) Failure to file a report required by subsection (6) of this section, filing such report late, failure to pay taxes due, or underpayment of such taxes shall result in a penalty of five percent of the amount due being imposed for each quarter the report is overdue or the payment is delinquent, except that the penalty shall not exceed ten thousand dollars.

(8) The Department of Revenue shall enforce the provisions of this section. The department shall adopt and promulgate rules and regulations necessary for the implementation and enforcement of this section.

(9) The Department of Revenue shall separately identify the proceeds from the tax imposed by this section and shall pay all such proceeds over to the county treasurer of the county where the wind energy generation facility is located within thirty days after receipt of such proceeds.