The Starke County Council will open a public hearing tonight to take comments on requests from Hoosier Solar for the process of personal property tax abatements for the Starke Central and North Bend solar projects.
A preliminary resolution for the establishment of an Economic Revitalization Area for each project will be presented for future approval. The affected parcels in each project would be deemed as an Economic Revitalization Area for a period of 40 years, subject to the adoption of a confirmatory resolution. The Economic Revitalization Area allows abatement of property taxes attributable to redevelopment or rehabilitation activities and the installation of new manufacturing equipment. According to the proposed resolution, it states that “redevelopment or rehabilitation activities and such manufacturing equipment as described herein are limited strictly to investments made for the purpose of generating electricity from solar energy for the public grid and to activities and equipment in direct support of such efforts, or for other purposes related thereto and fully compliant with the Starke County Solar Energy Ordinance and with the Starke County zoning code, maps and exhibits as may be amended from time to time, and any actions taken to enforce and interpret such applicable ordinances and zoning.”
The public hearing is set for Tuesday, November 19 at 6 p.m. CT at the Nancy J. Dembowski Community Center in Knox. Permits for these projects have already been approved.
