May 1, 2026, 3:01 a.m. ET Two Lower Hudson Valley lawmakers want to tack five years onto a multi-million-dollar, ratepayer-backed bailout program that’s softened the economic hurt for communities impacted by the shutdown of the Indian Point nuclear power plant. Democrats Pete Harckham and Dana Levenberg introduced companion legislation in the Senate and Assembly that […]
May 1, 2026, 3:01 a.m. ET
Two Lower Hudson Valley lawmakers want to tack five years onto a multi-million-dollar, ratepayer-backed bailout program that’s softened the economic hurt for communities impacted by the shutdown of the Indian Point nuclear power plant.
Democrats Pete Harckham and Dana Levenberg introduced companion legislation in the Senate and Assembly that would extend the life of a program that’s helped the village of Buchanan, the town of Cortlandt and the Hendrick Hudson School District close budget gaps opened by the plant’s 2021 shutdown.
The Cessation Mitigation Fund, which assists communities impacted by the closure of electric generation facilities, was approved by the state Legislature in 2019 but is slated to expire in 2028. Last year alone, it generated $15 million for impacted Westchester communities through utility bill surcharges.
“The cessation mitigation fund has given municipalities and schools some breathing room, but the out years of the program are fast approaching,” said Harckham, who chairs the Senate’s environmental committee. “Extending the program will help alleviate the burden on taxpayers and give local officials more resources to work with.”
Levenberg, who represents the 95th Assembly District, added: “Closing Indian Point has made our communities safer, but it has also meant a big loss in tax dollars, particularly for the Hendrick Hudson School District.”
The shutdown has meant $32 million in annual losses for one of Westchester County’s largest school districts. As a result, Cortlandt residents are facing an 8% increase in school taxes to cover gaps left by reductions in the real estate taxes that Indian Point once provided, Cortlandt Supervisor Richard Becker said.
“This is simply unaffordable to this community,” Becker said.
Extending cessation funding will let the district raise taxes in increments “allowing the school district to remain intact, and the community to remain healthy and affordable,” Becker added.
The school district, with a $100 million budget that serves 2,300 students, receives $3.3 million annually through a PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) agreement negotiated with Holtec, the company tearing down a power plant that generated electricity for Westchester County and New York City for nearly 60 years. In the 2019-20 school year, the district received $25 million from the plant’s former owners.
The cessation fund delivered over $10.2 million to the district in 2025 but Superintendent Michael Tromblee told the USA TODAY Network last year that the district is still facing a 20% budget shortfall.
He’s been pressing state and federal lawmakers to help the district secure more financial help so it won’t need to cut teachers and programs.
“With the choices that we face we have to make the best, worst decision,” Tromblee told the USA TODAY Network.
Last year, Harckham said that since taking office in 2019, state aid to the district has increased by $11.3 million per year.
The village of Buchanan, meanwhile, lost funding for roughly half of its $7 million budget when Indian Point closed. The plant had about 1,000 employees and a $140 million payroll.
Over the next two years, Buchanan Mayor Theresa Knickerbocker estimates the village will receive about $116,000 annually from the cessation fund but may need to raise taxes if it’s not extended beyond its 7-year limit.
“As the host community, we’re still facing revenue shortfalls from the closure of Indian Point and any support that we can receive is very much appreciated,” Knickerbocker said.
She’s urged state and local officials to consider allowing Holtec to restart Indian Point, whose last working reactor shut down five years ago on April 30, 2021.
Harckham and Levenberg have opposed the idea as has Gov. Kathy Hochul, despite her recent push to add more nuclear power upstate.
Harckham has quipped that Indian Point’s reactors would restart “when Elvis Presley makes his comeback tour.”
Thomas C. Zambito covers energy, transportation and economic growth for the USA TODAY Network’s New York State team. He’s won dozens of state and national writing awards from the Associated Press, Investigative Reporters and Editors, the Deadline Club and others during a decades-long career that’s included stops at the New York Daily News, The Star-Ledger of Newark and The Record of Hackensack. He can be reached at tzambito@lohud.com…Read more by Thomas C. Zambito