Resident asks about tax implications of solar developments

A Dubois County resident pressed the county council and assessor Monday on unresolved financial questions surrounding the AES Crossvine Battery Energy Storage and other solar projects, raising concerns about tax revenue, property value impacts and who bears the cost if something goes wrong.

Holly Bartelt Gogel, who lives near the Crossvine Solar project currently under construction, appeared before the Dubois County Council at the regular meeting on Monday, urging officials to take a harder look at the true costs and benefits of large-scale solar and battery storage development in the county.

Bartelt Gogel told council members that the median assessed value for solar land in the region has dropped from $20,000 per acre to $7,699 per acre.

“What is the actual revenue to the county, township, schools, libraries, fire departments, emergency medical services and other taxing districts?” she asked. “I’ve seen and heard a lot of ‘well it should be this or it might be that.’ What is it going to be?”

County Assessor Angie Giesler, who arrived partway through the discussion, confirmed that land occupied by solar panels will be assessed at the state-set solar land rate — currently capped at $7,699 per acre for the southern Indiana zone — and that she is already using Google Earth aerial imagery from October of last year to begin reassessing areas of the Duff Solar project.

When questioned about what point the land use changes, she stated that her position is that cleared and fenced land is no longer agricultural regardless of whether a project is complete.

Bartelt Gogel asked how land that is not being used for panels but is leased will be assessed.

Giesler stated the county will evaluate these instances on a case-by-case basis — agricultural if it’s still being farmed, non-agricultural if it isn’t.

On the question of whether neighboring, non-participating property owners could see a reduction in their assessments, the assessor acknowledged many assessors around the state are discussing this as solar projects are being developed. At this time, the county lacks the sales data needed to support such a change, she told Bartelt Gogel.

“Until we have that data, that information on how this is actually affecting those properties, we don’t have any evidence,” she said, noting that no Indiana county has yet shared sales data showing a measurable decline near similar projects.

The state dictates how assessed values are calculated across the state. Under state law, to determine assessed values of properties, Giesler’s office has to look at market data based on home sales, track the pricing trends and, similar to appraisers, use the sales data to determine the value of similar homes.

Earlier in her presentation to the council, Bartelt Gogel had cited a Wisconsin academic study showing approximately a 5% reduction in home values near solar projects and pointed out that a home currently listed for sale near the Crossvine site has received no offers.

Councilman Alex Hohl raised concerns about the project’s potential effect on housing growth in the area.

“When you have a project like this, you are deterring all the chances for future home developments for anybody wanting to buy a property,” Hohl said, noting that geographic constraints already limit expansion in several directions around the Huntingburg and Holland area.

Bartelt Gogel also questioned who would cover costs if a thermal runaway event forces evacuations, who pays for emergency responder training, and who is responsible for cleanup if a developer goes bankrupt before the decommissioning fund is fully established — noting that the Crossvine decommissioning fund is not fully funded until year 10 of the project.

“I wish the decommissioning plan started getting funded when they broke ground,” she said.

Councilman Michael Kluesner confirmed the county did not negotiate any upfront Payments in Lieu of Property Taxes (PILOT) from developers, and that the council declined a money offer when it chose not to approve a tax abatement for the project.

The council’s solar development tax abatement moratorium remains in effect until September of next year, blocking new abatement applications in the interim. Hohl indicated the council is weighing whether to extend or make the moratorium permanent.