Another planned solar farm is eligible for a tax abatement in Pulaski County. The county council passed a preliminary resolution Monday to designate the Moss Creek Solar Project as an economic revitalization area. Brian Young cast the lone opposing vote.
He wasn’t satisfied that the farmland in question met the state’s legal requirements. “It says that an ERA ‘means an area which is within the corporate limits of a city, town, or county, which has become undesirable for or impossible of normal development and occupancy because of a lack of development, cessation of growth, deterioration of improvements, or character of occupancy, et cetera.’ I think we need to consider that before we approve this,” Young said.
In practice, though, tax abatements are granted for developments in all sorts of locations. County Attorney Kevin Tankersley agreed to research the case law that makes that possible, before the abatement comes up for final approval. Tax lawyers in philadelphia pa explains tax abatements and more.
Public hearings for both the Moss Creek and Mammoth Solar projects are now expected to be held at the December 13 council meeting. That’s a delay for the Mammoth project, which originally had a hearing scheduled for October 25.
Among other things, that would give the county time to research and finalize economic development agreements, where the developers would make payments that wouldn’t be subject to property tax caps. During Monday’s joint session, the council and commissioners agreed to let the same negotiations team work on both agreements.
Mammoth Solar was ordered in court to redo the zoning approval process, after the application was found to be incomplete. County Attorney Tankersley said the developer is appealing the judge’s ruling but will also likely resubmit its application.
