Amid frustration with state laws that limit their ability to vote down solar farms, McHenry County officials are considering a new fee on solar farm developers to cover the impact of their construction on county roads.
The County Board’s transportation committee took up a proposed fee structure on Wednesday. Board member Jim Kearns, transportation committee chairman, proposed a $5,000 base fee, plus $150 per acre of a solar farm’s size, similar to a potential stormwater fee.
Kearns said when solar farm construction happens, the sides of roads and ditches get torn up. Kearns said the proposal was specific to energy-related developments and that the county can charge for it.
“They’ve taken everything else away from us,” Kearns said of state lawmakers removing the county’s zoning authority over solar farms. “This is such garbage.”
But the attorney present at the meeting cautioned the board that the county can only charge a developer for reasonable costs of improving or repairing roads. Building and stormwater fees are handled differently, the attorney said.
Permit fees must be directly tied to the county’s costs, and it has to be a money-in, money-out situation, the attorney said. If the county goes with a flat-fee structure, it could be on the hook for large attorneys’ fees if it gets sued.
County Board member Brian Sager said he knew “we’re all upset and we’re frustrated, angry” with the Legislature and the governor, but he didn’t think officials should look for loopholes and charge people “because we’re mad.”
Sager said damage repair fees were appropriate, but the county should only charge what it pays for repairs.
Board member Michael Skala said he supports the concept of the solar farm-specific road impact fee, but “we need to figure out the numbers so that we’re not just arbitrarily choosing numbers.” He added the county needs to justify the structure and be able to defend it in court.
Skala said if the county is going to impose such fees, it should also look at other permits. He said the state “screwed” the county on solar farms and “we’re still getting screwed.”
Currently, McHenry County’s Division of Transportation charges a $2,500 minor access fee and a $450 construction stabilization fee for such projects. Those fees apply to all projects with 55 or fewer trips per day, not just solar farms.
Businesses that apply for such permits are also required to bring roads to the standards they were in before, and county staff frequently checks sites to make sure businesses are following the rules that come with the permit.
Board member Matt Kunkle supported the solar farm-specific fee and said he’d like to see them even higher, but recognized the law limits that. He said it is a simple, flat fee and a uniform way of policing it. He also liked the per-acre fee. Kunkle thought a flat fee was the fairest to solar and wind developers and constituents.
The committee did not vote on a solar farm road fee structure on Wednesday, but generally wanted county staff to come back with a fee structure that the county could defend.
The solar discussion came a day after a different county committee had discussed the possibility of asking the voters whether to grant the county home rule powers. Frustration with the solar laws and the proposed BUILD Act were among the reasons officials mentioned for home rule.