County board agrees to use at least half of Amazon fee‑in‑lieu proceeds to accelerate $215M loan payoff

Madison County supervisors voted July 6 to commit not less than half of annual fee‑in‑lieu payments from Amazon data‑center projects toward early repayment of a $215 million public‑improvements loan, a plan McKita/Makita counsel Chris Pace said would shrink long‑term interest costs and accelerate community receipts.

“Based on our math, it looks to us like we could easily take half of the fee‑in‑lieu money, pay back the loan,” said Chris Pace, outside attorney for Makita, urging the board to adopt a resolution that would express the county’s intent to use roughly 50% of incoming fee‑in‑lieu proceeds for debt service. Pace told supervisors the loan carries a 13‑year amortization that begins when the company’s first fee‑in‑lieu payment arrives in January 2027 and that the minimum state debt service in the first year will be about $10 million.

Tax assessor Norman, who had presented the preliminary 2026 tax roll earlier in the meeting, said county receipts from the fee‑in‑lieu program should be meaningful. “Of that top‑line number before paying back any of the debt service, right at $12,000,000 would come to the county,” he said; Pace noted that under a 50% paydown plan that would leave about $6,000,000 net to the county in the first year and much larger net amounts in later years as receipts grow.

County staff stressed an important caveat: the projections assume the current millage rate and preliminary assessed values. County staff member Greg (office representative) reminded the board that millage decisions are made by the board in the fall and that state statute limits how much the county can increase collections in a single year.

The motion was made by the chair and seconded by a supervisor; the board approved the resolution by voice vote. The resolution does not change the existing fee‑in‑lieu agreements with Amazon or the terms of the state loan; it expresses the county’s intention to allocate a minimum share of fee‑in‑lieu proceeds toward debt service so the loan can be paid off earlier, according to presenters.

Presenters recommended the approach as a finance strategy: paying faster reduces interest costs and, once the state loan is repaid, the fee‑in‑lieu proceeds would be distributed to the county, city, schools and other local participants on a pro rata basis. Pace estimated that under the early‑payoff approach the loan might be repaid well before the 13‑year schedule included in the original loan documents, accelerating the date when the county would receive a larger share of fee‑in‑lieu revenues.

Next steps: staff will forward the board’s resolution to the other participating jurisdictions and the state as part of coordinating the loan‑repayment approach; detailed cash‑flow modeling and final distributions will depend on actual fee‑in‑lieu receipts, any future millage changes and the timing of assessments.