Ellis County will accept developer reimbursement agreements to cover up to $110,000 in solar project review costs

Ellis County commissioners on Feb. 3 authorized agreements under which Tallgrass Development LLC would reimburse the county for up to $110,000 in legal and consultant costs to review the proposed Tallgrass solar farm southwest of Hays.

County Administrator Darin Myers explained the agreements will fund outside review of documents such as the conditional use permit (CUP), payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) terms, a road use agreement, the emergency response plan and a decommissioning plan. The county also approved contracts with Wichita law firm Foulston and consulting firm Acre Strong to provide legal and technical review during the multi-month process.

Developer Steve Link addressed public concerns and said the landowners will continue paying property taxes at the agricultural rate and that the project will pay additional taxes in its solar classification. As Link stated to the board, "the landowners will keep paying their taxes at the ag rate, and they will pick up the additional tax for the solar farm rate." The board emphasized these agreements do not represent approval of the project itself but authorize county staff to accept reimbursement and to obtain expert review.

Commissioner Nathan Leiker moved to approve the agreements and Commissioner Michael Berges seconded; the motion passed by a voice vote of three to zero. County staff noted that the estimated reimbursable expense is about $110,000 and that the county would not be spending its own funds for the review services under the approved reimbursement agreement.

Next steps: staff will proceed with the consultant and legal reviews as documents are submitted by Tallgrass Development and return to the board for any required decisions on permits or agreements.