Starke County Attorney Justin Schramm recently presented the Starke County Commissioners and Starke County Council members a preliminary resolution establishing an Economic Revitalization Area for the Mammoth Solar project.
He noted that this is the preliminary step in a process toward tax abatement.
“In order to give tax abatements, you have to first establish an Economic Revitalization Area,” Schramm explained. “You guys signed a preliminary Memorandum of Understanding a year ago with Mammoth basically saying that they were going to pay something like $2,500 per Megawatt hour per year – about $1 million a year. You have to itemize that in an Economic Development Agreement (EDA) which basically talks about all of the incentives you’re going to be getting. I am working on that EDA right now, and I’m working with the attorney down at Barnes and Thornburg on that.”
He added that by passing this preliminary resolution, it allows the county to set the area that would be the subject of the Economic Revitalization Area. He stressed that it does not guarantee anything, but introduces the process.
He stated that he is somewhat mirroring documents that were recently passed in Pulaski County concerning solar projects there, but is customizing them to fit Starke County’s needs.
The council members passed the preliminary resolution with a unanimous vote. The preliminary resolution was also presented to the commissioners for information only.
Schramm explained that the next step in the process is that the county will hold a public hearing to take comments and notices will be sent out.
Following the public hearing, that has not yet been scheduled, the council would consider a confirmatory resolution which would involve a negotiated Economic Development Agreement in place with Mammoth Solar which would outline the company’s payment timeline and structure.
