WEST MARTINSBURG — With a combined 1,700 residents and little non-farm-related industry, Martinsburg and Harrisburg have never been particularly wealthy towns.

However, their newest "resident" — the Maple Ridge Wind Farm — has changed all that.

Revenues from the 195-turbine wind farm are split among Lewis County, the towns of Martinsburg, Harrisburg, Lowville and Watson and the Lowville, South Lewis and Copenhagen school districts based on full-value tax rates from September 2004 for the school districts and from January 2005 for the towns and county.

While the school district and the county get most of the money, Martinsburg and Harrisburg have been affected more since they are receiving payments two to three times larger than their previous budgets.

Over the first two years of a 15-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement, the adjacent towns — which have 180 of the 195 turbines within their borders — collected a combined $3.23 million from the wind farm.

Thus far, they've used their newfound wealth to upgrade equipment and roads and initiate new services, while lessening the local tax burden slightly.

"We're limited in the amount we can drop taxes," Harrisburg Supervisor Stephen N. Bernat said. "We want to provide additional services, instead."

As a case in point, Harrisburg implemented a townwide trash pickup service in April, Mr. Bernat said.

Casella Waste Systems each week picks up household garbage in 68-gallon containers provided to town residents, he said.

When the town sent out requests for proposal, Casella was the low bidder at $31,000 for the year, Mr. Bernat said. While that cost will increase in coming years, the Town Council plans to maintain the service as a way to financially aid its residents, he said.

"That was our intent — to try to do something that would help everybody," Mr. Bernat said.

Martinsburg officials have also been considering townwide garbage pickup, said Martinsburg Supervisor Terry J. Thisse. Such a program would allow residents to "see a direct benefit" from the wind farm, he said.

Here's a closer look at other ways the two towns are using their PILOT funding:

BETTER ROADS AND CAPITAL RESERVES

Martinsburg has received $1.13 million and $1.04 million, respectively, from its first two wind farm PILOT payments.

That has led to an increase in the size of the budget from about $600,000 to $1.5 million over the past couple of years, with about $1 million set aside for highway funding.

The town last year paved about five miles of dirt roads, increasing the town's paved miles from 18 to 23, said town Highway Superintendent Carl D. Morrison.

And, this summer, about 1 1/2 miles of town road were repaved with a 4-inch-thick hot and cold asphalt mix — instead of the usual half-inch oil and stone mix — to improve the driving surface and longevity, Mr. Morrison said.

"We've got the money to do things right," he said.

Town crews are also working to upgrade the 55 remaining miles of dirt roads, several of which have been rendered impassable during past spring runoffs due to poor road surfaces, Mr. Morrison said. "I could spend a lot of money yet hauling gravel and stone on the hill," he said.

Also, with the wind funding, astronomical increases in fuel and salt costs this year should be covered without significantly limiting other highway department services, he said.

Martinsburg over the past couple of years has also purchased several pieces of new equipment, including a $200,000 snowplow, $120,000 tandem truck, $50,000 front-end loader and backhoe and $55,000 tractor, Mr. Thisse said. While the town has done a good job replacing old equipment, the PILOT money has accelerated that process, he said.

Equipment will likely be replaced more frequently than in the past, Mr. Morrison said.

Martinsburg, with assistance from state historic preservation funding, is also refurbishing the town hall, which initially served as Lewis County's first courthouse. It has also hired Watertown architectural firm Bernier, Carr and Associates to design a possible upgrade for its nearly 50-year-old town garage on Cemetery Road.

The town provided funding to the 3-G Fire Department to help construct its new fire hall last year and the Martinsburg Fire Department for new equipment.

And it also set aside $275,000 in reserve funds for future capital, highway and equipment upgrades.

NEW EQUIPMENT AND ELIMINATION OF OLD DEBTS:

Harrisburg has received $186,254 and $880,736, respectively, from the PILOT payments in the past two years.

That has led to an increase in the size of its budget from about $265,000 to $1 million.

The town last year, under former Supervisor Norman L. Roof Sr., borrowed $450,000 for a pair of plow trucks and a dump truck in anticipation of receiving wind farm money, Mr. Bernat said.

This year, the town bought an $89,593 payloader, $215,000 grade-all and a $155,300 road grader. Most of the machines being replaced were more than 20 years old, including a 1963 grade-all that "wasn't functional," Mr. Bernat said.

"It was time," he said. "But, without the wind farm money, we would've had a hard time doing it."

While the town paid for the payloader up front, the grade-all and road grader were also purchased with short-term loans so that the remaining $82,500 principal — borrowed at a higher interest rate than the new loans — owed on the 2002 construction of the town hall could be paid off, Mr. Bernat said.

"We paid it off 23 1/2 years early," he said.

The supervisor said he'd like to see the town debt-free in a few years.

A second full-time highway worker position that had been cut several years ago was also reinstated, and the town this year was able to pave 2.3 miles of road rather than the typical half-mile per year, Mr. Bernat said.

"We'd like to get all the roads in proper condition during the term of the PILOT so we'll be able to maintain them after that," he said.

Harrisburg maintains 36 miles of road.

The town, in conjunction with the neighboring Tug Hill towns of Pinckney and Montague and with assistance from a state grant, also purchased a tractor with mower and rake.

TAX STABILIZATION AND PLANS

Both towns last year also used some of their PILOT money to drop tax rates slightly.

"We rolled taxes back to 2004 levels," Mr. Thisse said.

However, with the annual payment amount for the next few years tied closely to current tax rates, continuing to drop taxes would reduce potential revenues for all PILOT partners.

So, both Mr. Thisse and Mr. Bernat are focusing on tax stabilization, preferably for the next 20 years or more.

"We want to stay where we are," Mr. Thisse said.

"There will be no tax increases in the foreseeable future," Mr. Bernat said. "That's guaranteed."

Financial consultant Municipal Solutions Inc., LeRoy, is working with both towns on long-term planning for best use of their windfall.

Harrisburg, like Martinsburg, has established capital reserve accounts and may begin putting money into them later this year, Mr. Bernat said. The town is also considering the purchase of some land for a cold storage building and continued highway improvements, he said.

Wind farm funding could also be used to help entice other industries to locate in the area, Mr. Thisse said.

Further opportunities to lower taxes without significant impact to overall revenues could also be available, particularly once the PILOT ends and the turbines go onto the tax rolls, he said.

And, in a case of the rich potentially getting richer, PPM Atlantic Renewable, one of the Maple Ridge partners, has also proposed a 40-turbine Roaring Brook wind project in Martinsburg.

However, officials in both towns are hesitant to look too far ahead.

"This whole situation is pretty new to us," Mr. Bernat said.