The Marion County Board wants to take another look at charging fees to those wanting to site solar farms. The board had earlier tried to implement the charges, but were stopped by Marion County State’s Attorney Tim Hudspeth who said it wasn’t possible since the county didn’t have zoning to attach the fees.
But the board’s finance and budget committee Tuesday night decided to bring the issue up again because Fayette County has reportedly implemented the fees. Like Marion County, they don’t have zoning either.
The committee will pass on their information from Fayette County to Hudspeth for another look.
The committee notes if the fees can be collected it could help fill the county’s $350,000 hole in the fiscal year budget that begins December 1st.
County board chair Steve Whritenour notes they have cut all $400,000 in capital improvements next year to get the deficit down to $350,000. He says county office holders came back collectively this year with expenditures 1-percent under last year. However, they will be asked to look again for other possible cuts. Whritenour says an $850,000 drop in revenue coming from the state for sales tax is behind the county’s budget woes.
The committee hopes to complete work on the budget at its next meeting in November after meeting in person with Bellwether, their budget consultant, so the t budget can go before the full board in late November ahead of the start of the new fiscal year in December.
