August 25, 2024 – During a regular meeting of the Hopkins County Commissioner’s Court set for August 26th, one agenda item will be for the court to consider a tax abatement for Sligsol, LLC on a 515 acre solar farm to be built on County Road 4725. A public notice with limited information was posted on the Hopkins County website in early July, but detailed information about the project has been difficult to obtain for KSST News. The one-page public notice listed the value of the project at $108,000,000 in improvements on a 515 acre tract of land “located in western Hopkins County, north of Cumby and Interstate 30.” The public notice also stated that “the draft abatement agreement and a list of corresponding property owners, parcels, and legal descriptions are provided in the attachments to this public notice” The above referenced documents were, in fact, not attached to the public notice and were not available on the Hopkins County website. Obtaining copies of this information turned into a scavenger hunt for KSST News as several phone calls to county officials resulted in being told to call someone else. KSST News, was finally able to get the supporting documentation from Jeff Snowden, a consultant who has negotiated the tax abatement with Sligsol LLC on behalf of Hopkins County.
The 26-page 312 agreement shows Sligsol, LLC plans to build a solar facilty capable of producing 81 Megawatts of electricity. The agreement also shows Hopkins County agreeing to accept a PILOT or “payment in lieu of taxes” of $2,153 per Megawatt production. By KSST News calculations, the net effect of abating 100% of the taxes owed on the $108 million in improvements and accepting the PILOT results in Hopkins County forgoing collecting the difference of more than $350,000 for the first year of the abatement. The PILOT agreement is slated for the first ten years of the project.
Other supporting documentation for the project received by KSST News only shows one land owner involved in the project. The two tracts of property involved in the project include one 248.0 acre tract and one 266.67 acre tract, both owned by BK HIll Real Estate, LLC. A records check show the same owner owning property north of Highway 11 where another solar facility has been constructed as well as commercial propery in Sulphur Springs that houses the Fix and Feed Hardware Store.
The project, one the tax abatement is approved, is expected to start construction right away. The terms of the agreement dictate that the project would need to be finished and operating by 2026 to qualify for the tax abatement.
The regular meeting of the Hopkins County Commissioner’s Court start at 9:00am, Monday August 26, 2024.
