Livingston County trims FY2026 budget after state caps wind and solar permit fees
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Summary
The Livingston County Board approved an amendment to the FY2026 budget after staff said state legislation capped commercial wind and solar building-permit fees at $75,000, cutting expected permit revenue from $13 million to roughly $300,000 and contributing to a reported $8.2 million fund deficit.
The Livingston County Board on Thursday approved an amendment to the FY2026 annual budget after staff said recent state legislation sharply limited the county’s ability to collect building-permit fees from commercial wind and solar farms.
Diane, a county finance staff member, told the board that the county had budgeted about $13,000,000 in permit revenue based on a local ordinance that charged $10,000 per megawatt for commercial energy projects. "The new legislation passed a week ago has put a maximum amount on what can be collected for the building permit, and that limit is $75,000," she said. "So that goes from 13,000,000 to about 300,000." Diane said the change required rewrites to the display budget to reduce the corresponding revenue lines and related expense assumptions.
Marty Fannin, chair of the finance committee, introduced the ordinance adopting the FY2026 budget appropriations and asked Diane to explain the last-minute amendment. Diane said the county had faced a similar post-display amendment in 2022 when unforeseen expenses and revenue changes left contingency insufficient to cover increases. "We have a deficit," she said. "It's $8,200,000." She explained the deficit is spread across highway funds, the host fund for capital projects, the vehicle fund, and an enterprise zone fund.
Board members pressed for clarification on how the county arrived at the earlier $13 million figure and how the new cap translated to the reduced total. Diane walked through the ordinance-based fee calculation, noting an example of a 250-megawatt commercial solar farm that under the county’s ordinance would have generated $2,500,000 in permit fees but will now be limited to the statutory cap.
After questions, the board voted to approve the amended FY2026 appropriations ordinance on a motion by Blackard and a second by Ritter. The motion carried on a roll call vote.
Why it matters: The state cap on renewable-energy permit fees meaningfully reduces a projected non-tax revenue source the county had planned to use for capital and operating purposes. County officials said they adjusted both revenue and related spending assumptions in the displayed budget to reflect the new statutory limit. The amendment does not eliminate other budget pressures the county flagged, including the multi-fund deficit.
What’s next: The amended budget ordinance was approved by the board at this meeting. Staff indicated line-item summaries and explanations are included in the budget documents on display for public review and that the county will continue to report fund-balance changes in subsequent budget materials.
