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Mills County creates reinvestment zone for Blue Heron solar project; abatement debate to continue
Summary
Mills County commissioners voted 3–2 to create a reinvestment zone for a proposed solar project (variously named Blue Heron/Red River), enabling future talks about a tax abatement. Commissioners directed staff to produce abatement scenarios and consult the appraisal firm Pritchard & Abbott on depreciation schedules.
Mills County commissioners on Nov. 24 voted 3–2 to establish a reinvestment zone around a proposed large-scale solar project identified in the record as Blue Heron (also styled Red River/Blue Heron). The vote creates the geographic zone in which the county could negotiate a future tax abatement but does not itself grant any tax relief.
The commissioners’ vote followed a public hearing in which multiple residents urged caution about abatements and asked the county to verify the developer’s revenue and depreciation assumptions with an independent accountant. Karen Westland Francis, who said she owns property adjacent to the proposed project, asked commissioners to “narrow your thoughts down to a couple of scenarios” and to…
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