Mark Buck can see some of the 314 turbines in Kansas’ largest wind farm from his office window in Medicine Lodge, where he is superintendent of the Barber County North School District.

The nearly $1 billion Flat Ridge project, built in two phases and owned in part by British Petroleum, spans 70,000 acres near the Oklahoma border in south-central Kansas. But unlike most other Kansas businesses, Flat Ridge pays no property taxes on its generators to fund local schools and other services.

"I have been the superintendent here for six years, and I have never seen any benefits financially from the Flat Ridge Wind Farms," Buck said.

Buck is not alone. In its rush to attract wind farms, some of which are owned by wealthy foreign-based corporations such as BP, Kansas offered them something no other state has: lifetime exemptions from local property taxes — the lifeblood of local school funding.

Read the full article about Kansas school districts getting shortchanged because of wind turbine investors at Harvest Public Media.