County Council discusses tax abatement moratorium for solar parks and holds the public hearing for the 2025 budgets

The Dubois County Council held a public hearing for the 2025 budget last week.

No public comments were made on the proposed $36,633,324 budget.

Along with the county budget, the county council also approved the budgets for the Northeast Dubois School Corporation ($13,370,491); the Dubois County Solid Waste District ($389,000); the Northeast Dubois Fire District ($135,300); and the Dubois County Airport Authority ($7,045,025).

The council also discussed the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds that must be obligated for use by the end of 2024. They have about $1.3 million available at this time.

The council approved a $40,683.87 quote from Matrix Integration for new computers and setup for the Auditor’s Office, which will be covered by ARPA.

Along with the budget, the council discussed its recent decision to decline a tax abatement for the Duff Solar Park.

According to Council President Mike Kluesner, he wanted to discuss establishing a moratorium for tax abatements for solar parks, as suggested by Councilman Alex Hohl.

Hohl said he supported solar parks established by reputable companies, and the moratorium on the abatement process could help ensure the company is willing to invest without public assistance.

He explained he supported using the abatement to help local companies grow and create new jobs but was suspicious of these outside companies and their continued investment in the wellbeing of Dubois County. Hohl used the recent sale of the Lightsource bp solar park to AES to validate his concerns regarding these companies.

“Now this guy (AES) claims they are always going to own it,” he said. “I guess we will take him at his word on that.”

Councilman Ryan Craig said he didn’t think a moratorium was necessary based on the current process, which involves the tax abatement committee scoring the request before the county council approves it.

Councilwoman Meredith Voegerl agreed with Craig but added she wasn’t for or against passing a resolution for a moratorium.

Newly appointed Councilwoman Deena Lewis said she could see both sides of the issue but was concerned about Indiana Legislation’s future decisions regarding easing property tax burdens on property owners. She suggested they wait to see what legislation may be passed before taking action on the moratorium. She said the scoring process the county currently uses seemed to be efficient.

Hohl pushed back, saying he felt these companies visiting multiple times would be an “exercise in futility” during the approvals process. He also pointed to the last abatement decision regarding Duff as evidence that it may be completely unnecessary.

The discussion then switched to the length of the moratorium. As originally proposed, the moratorium was indefinite. Kluesner said that with the long process involved in these projects, they could allow a three-year moratorium to be revised when it expires.

The council approved the changes and will consider the tax abatement moratorium at the Oct. 28, 2024 meeting.