(PHOTO BY JESSE DAVIS / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
SOLAR TAX POWER … Fulton County Auditor Brett Kolb addresses the Fayette Local School District Board of Education regarding the tax impact of solar projects in the area during the board’s meeting Thursday evening.
By: Jesse Davis
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jesse@thevillagereporter.com
Fulton County Auditor Brett Kolb spoke to the Fayette Local School District Board of Education at its regular meeting Thursday to break down the estimated payments in lieu of taxes to be made on behalf of the Arche solar project.
“I’m not for or against solar, I’m coming to merely present facts to you on the cash, how the cash works,” Kolb said.
According to information presented by Kolb, the Arche project began functioning in late January 2024 and has been certified as a 107-megawatt project.
The payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) is based on that number and will not change based on how much power the facility actually generates.
With a $7,000 per megawatt base PILOT payment and additional $500 per megawatt county PILOT, the project is estimated to generate an annual payment of $802,500 for a total of $24,075,000 over the 30-year life of the project.
Of the annual estimated PILOT payments, $175,504.90 will go to the county, $500,862.22 will go to Gorham-Fayette schools, $6,879.98 will go to the Normal Memorial Library, $38,527.86 will go to Four County JVS, $67,882.42 will go to Gorham Township, and $12,842.62 will go to Four County Community Health.
Kolb also shared very early estimates of the PILOT payments that would be made as part of the new Ritter Station Solar Project.
Those estimates are based on it being certified as a 199-megawatt project with a $7,000 per megawatt base PILOT payment and additional $2,000 per megawatt county PILOT, bringing the annual estimate to $1,791,000 and 30-year lifetime estimate to $53,730,000.
The breakdown between recipients of the PILOT payments is proportional to the Arche project breakdown.
OTHER BUSINESS
The board approved the following items: senior trip to Hocking Hills from March 18-20; 2025-2026 membership in the Ohio High School Athletic Association; an agreement with Bowling Green State University for student teaching; calendar year 2025 membership with the OHI Charter Workers’ Compensation Group Rating Program; a one-year contract with Grow Your Mind, LLC, to provide speech-language pathologist, occupational therapist, and physical therapist services from August 1, 2025, through July 31, 2026; special Education Model Policies and Procedure; a donation of $1,000 from the Fulton County Dairy Association for FFA activities; monthly updated substitute teacher and paraprofessional list.
In personnel, the board approved: Dennis Peabody as an OBI instructor for fiscal year 2025; rescinded Laura Galvan as varsity softball coach for fiscal year 2025, replacing her with Elizabeth Kidston; approved Eric Storrs, Ina Storrs, and Aaron Simon as volunteer archery coaches and Jensyn Robinson as volunteer softball assistant coach.
The board ended regular business by going into executive session “to discuss security arrangements and emergency response protocols.” No action was expected as a result of the session.
Update: Fulton County Auditor Brett Kolb later appeared at a March 2026 Fayette Board of Education meeting, where the district accepted its first PILOT payment from the Arche Solar Field.