By HOLLY GASKILL
The Wells County Council is moving forward with a resolution to prohibit utility-scale solar companies from receiving local property tax abatements.
In light of recent pushback against local solar developments, Council President Seth Whicker said members of the council had gotten together to see how they would be able to stop solar companies from receiving these benefits in the future. They determined a resolution could both deter future developments and add an extra hurdle to future council members.
The council could later repeal a resolution, but this would add another step for any tax abatements for solar companies to be approved.
“It would slow down the process,” summarized Council member Brandon Harnish.
Whicker added, “It would definitely add some more transparency there.”
The County Council had approved a 10-year total tax abatement for Paddlefish Solar, a potential solar development in southern Wells County, in December 2022. The council voted 5-2 in favor of the abatement — splitting 4-1 among current council members, with Vicki Andrews opposed and Whicker, Steve Huggins, Todd Mahnensmith and Scott Elzey in favor.
During the council’s meeting Tuesday, Whicker said the council had believed the abatement agreement was advantageous for the county, as it secured 85% of the abated amount through economic development payments. He also noted that there had been some public opposition at the time, but not to the current degree.
Harnish referred to the Area Plan Commission’s survey about solar for the Vision 2035 plan as evidence of a county-wide lack of support. The survey reports that 71.24% of those surveyed did not support utility-scale solar and 25.96% did.
“If a solar company is looking at Wells County, (and) when they do their due diligence they see a resolution or an ordinance or a ban or moratorium or what have you, they see that (and) they may just pass on,” Harnish said. “I think there’s value in that.”
“And I think the survey numbers show that that’s where the community stands,” Whicker replied.
Since the resolution would not prohibit solar companies from developing in Wells County, Huggins questioned whether a ban ultimately excludes the county government from the potential benefits of an economic development agreement. In response, Harnish said the benefit would be the tax revenue that wasn’t abated.
Some council members were unsure if they could move forward with an ordinance rather than a resolution, and Whicker said he would work with County Attorney Ted Storer to determine the best path. Harnish believed an ordinance would be the more difficult to repeal, which he favored. Regardless, Whicker said he would proceed with whatever avenue was “more restrictive.”
Whicker concluded, “In the end, I think what it would do is that we send a message, and if they’re looking around, they see that we aren’t having abatements for solar, (which) probably would scare a lot of them off to a more friendlier county … I took the county attorney and said, ‘What’s the most we could possibly do?’ He said this was within our authority.”
“We could write a really nasty resolution,” Harnish remarked. His comment was met by laughter from an audience of residents opposed to solar development.
“And I’ll make sure it’s as nasty as it can be,” Whicker quipped back.
Whicker said a prospective resolution would be considered at their next meeting, currently scheduled for July 2.
However, the council did discuss adding a special meeting before then to consider a tax abatement for Heartland REMC. The company had missed the deadline for their application, and the council didn’t feel it was appropriate to consider an exception to the deadline without representatives from the company present.
The company has applied for a 10-year total tax abatement to expand broadband internet access. Auditor Lisa McCormick said company representatives were aware their application was late. Whicker recognized that some of this delay could have resulted from the transition in economic development leadership since former executive director Chad Kline would have assisted with this process and represented the company at meetings.
Several council members expressed a desire to help the project move forward, but were hesitant to set a precedent about late applications, especially without speaking with the company. After McCormick said it would be difficult to wait until July due to various deadlines, the council decided to hold a special session this month.
holly@news-banner.com
