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Council approves expansion of Project Louie economic revitalization area to include about 160 acres
Summary
Morgan County Council voted unanimously to declare an expanded Economic Revitalization Area to include roughly 160 acres associated with Project Louie, a step county officials said is needed before considering tax abatement for future improvements.
The Morgan County Council voted 4-0 to adopt a resolution declaring an expansion of the county’s Economic Revitalization Area (ERA) to include roughly 160 acres identified as part of Project Louie.
County economic development officials said the ERA designation is a declaratory step that enables future tax abatement on improvements to that land; it does not itself grant abatement. Staff said the property is currently taxed as farmland and that the abatement would apply to improvements, not to taxes already paid on the land’s current use.
The developer and property owner requested inclusion of the acreage so improvements tied to Project Louie — described by the county as data-center compatible development — could qualify for future abatements. County counsel explained that a confirmatory public hearing will follow; a later process will consider specific abatement terms and any public comment.
Public commenters asked how a 160-acre expansion would affect the county budget and raised questions about environmental and grid impacts of data centers. County staff responded that farmland currently generates little tax revenue and that an abatement applies to new improvements; staff said detailed impacts would be vetted in later public hearings.
The motion to approve the ERA expansion carried 4-0.
