Centroplex News

A proposed solar farm opposed by many in the Troy community is seeking tax abatements from Troy ISD after receiving approval from Bell County, according to Texas Business Coalition.

Troy ISD's Board of Trustees considered the issue earlier this month but has chosen to delay the decision to future date, according to KDH News. The Big Elm solar farm owners – High Road Clean Energy and Apex Energy – hope to set the appraised value for the project at $20 million.

“It’s a little premature for me to speak on behalf of the district ... but it is certainly no secret that there is a considerable amount of revenue that would be potentially made available to the district,” Superintendent Neil Jeter said, KDH News reported. “It remains to be seen how the board feels about hosting such an endeavor. (The project) created a challenging situation where the board will make a decision that will make someone happy and someone unhappy.”

In May, the Bell County Commissioners Court held a public hearing in which approximately 20 local residents made public comments on the proposed solar farm. Many took issue with the creation of a reinvestment zone, the first step for the project to receive tax abatements, according to KDH.

“This is all about the money that clean energy is promising the county and the school district,” Robert Fleming, a property owner who would be affected, said in a May article in The Texan. “It isn’t about right and wrong."

The Big Elm solar farm owners leased approximately 3,000 acres in Bell County and plan to use 1,400 for solar panels, according to Texas Business Coalition.

Many of those opposing the solar farm are more critical of the tax abatements than the solar farm itself.

“I don’t have an issue with the other landowners,” Brian Reynolds said in The Texan article. “The people that are doing this may be having issues. Perhaps they don’t want to farm forever, or they don’t have people in their family to take over. I get it. I have concerns about the tax abatement. A lot of the money the developers get to do this comes from federal subsidies, so I’m already paying an abatement there. 

"Now I’m being asked to do it on the county level as well. If they want to be a part of the community they should pay the same taxes everyone else is paying.”

The Bell County Commissioners approved a request to designate the reinvestment zone for the project in June, and nearby landowners did not approve, according to KDH News. There are four taxing entities within the reinvestment zone along with Bell County: Troy Independent School District, Elm Creek Watershed Authority and the Clearwater Underground Water Conservation District.