The Marion County Board approved an ordinance establishing rules for creating new commercial solar and wind projects in Marion County. The ordinance covers large solar and wind farms that are intended to sell power, not provide power for a business or residence.
The bill establishes an application fee to cover the cost to the county to process applications for new facilities. The fee is $5,000 per megawatt of proposed nameplate capacity up to a maximum of $100,000. This money can be used to hire a consultant to review applications before they are approved by the board. Any unused money in the application fee will be refunded to the applicant within six months of the board reaching a decision on the application. If the fee does not cover the county’s cost in processing the application, the applicant will have to pay any additional costs.
Because the county cannot keep any excess money in the application fee, it is not a revenue source and will not help to balance the budget. Board members struck language from the ordinance referring to building permits because of concern that leaving the language in would lead to zoning. New solar and wind developments do bring new revenue to Marion County in the form of property taxes, as they have significantly higher property values than agricultural farmland.
The board approved the use of contingency funds to pay animal control salaries. The budget committee found that animal control expenses have already exceeded 90% of what was budgeted this year, so additional money needs to be transferred from contingency to animal control. The board approved a $40,000 transfer.
Board Chair Steve Whritenour brought the suggestion of hiring a Marion County administrator before the board for discussion. One board member who supported the idea was Josh Dunahee, who said the administrator could save the county more money than it spends on hiring the administrator by doing needed work and research and filling out grant applications. Debbie Smith, in opposition, said the work that would be done by the administrator is the responsibility of board members and the county is too small to justify hiring a full-time administrator. Whritenour says that if the board does decide to look for a county administrator, it will be a project for next year.
