Council signs off on multiple economic development abatements and compliance reports, including large solar project

Economic development staff reviewed annual abatement compliance and several individual projects at the June 19 council meeting and the council voted to approve the presented items.

The presenter went through company-by-company compliance figures: SUS Cast Products was listed with a proposed four-year abatement and proposed 88 employees and about $2.9 million in salaries, while the presenter recorded actuals at 99 employees and $3.4 million in salaries. Several Andersons entries were reviewed with proposed and actual investments and payroll figures; one major project had proposed investment figures in the tens of millions with actuals reported near those values. The presenter described an Apple Seed Solar project as unique: the transcript shows the company proposed a 10-year, 100% abatement for a 200-megawatt commercial solar installation, listing proposed investment and larger actual investment figures in the transcript (presenter cited numbers on the order of hundreds of millions of dollars). The presenter explained that utility projects are processed through the state DLGF and result in configured abatements and economic development payments to the county.

After the review, a council member moved to approve the compliance and abatement reports; the motion was seconded and the chair announced the motion carries. The approval covers the items summarized in the presenter’s report; where the presenter noted differences between proposed and actual employment/investment figures, those actuals were presented to the council as part of the compliance review.