The Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board has decided to cut taxes for Commonwealth Edison Co.'s (ComEd) Byron nuclear power plant. ComEd currently pays about $40 million in real estate taxes on the plant to Ogle County; the decision would lower the payments to $13.3 million. Ogle County will most likely appeal the decision, because certain local tax districts had planned on the revenue, and some have already spent the funds. If upheld, the ruling could affect other tax districts because the Board found that the plant has been overassessed since 1979, when the state constitution was amended to ban personal property taxes. At that time, the County reclassified equipment from personal property to real estate, which may be taxed.
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