Logan County Board to Apply for Inflation Reduction Act Refund

 

[February 23, 2025] 

On Tuesday, February 18th, the Logan County Board met for their monthly regular board meeting. This meeting was attended by nine of the twelve members. For more general details of what went on at this meeting, please see the article LDN published covering this meeting, which was published on Friday, February 21st.

One of the major items discussed at this meeting was an application the board is working on making for the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). For those who are unaware, the IRA is a 2022 law aimed at, among other things, rewarding counties for investing in renewable energy. This was something discussed at the board’s workshop meeting on Thursday, February 13th.

At that meeting, it was discussed hiring J. M. Abbott and Associates at the rate of $250 per hour to act as an intermediary between the board and a larger firm they plan on hiring to actually fill out the application. The board is currently between two companies at the moment, one from Utah and the other from California. They are expecting to spend between $30,000 - $40,000 on hiring the larger accounting firm.

Bill Walter, overseer of the Logan County Courthouse Restoration project, was present and gave an update on the status of the county’s application process for the IRA. Walter first shared that the majority of what the county is getting back is the result of the geothermal system that was installed at the courthouse. Walter also spoke on the difficulty of applying for a refund from the IRA. “If you know nothing, it takes about ten years to get to a point where you can do it. If you know everything, it takes about one year.” Walter said this to drive home the need for hiring a larger firm.

Walter stated that the county could receive an extra ten percent from this refund if it can prove it used at least forty percent domestic materials for the geothermal project. Walter said that, if the county is able to get that extra ten percent, it will take what the county is going to receive from $2 - $2.2 million to $2.6 - $2.8 million.

Walter then shared that they have been told this is a “done deal.” He compared the refund to a tax refund that an individual would receive. “They have run the numbers, they have checked our compliance and eligibility, and it appears as though all we have to do is go through the motions,” Walter said. The application is due by April 15th and Walter shared that he is confident that they will be able to make that deadline.

The next thing Walter talked about was the need to hire an intermediary. He shared that no one directly involved in this application process feels that they are knowledgeable enough to understand what they are going to be told by whichever larger accounting firm the county hires. This being the case, Abbott is needed. He also stated that they do not believe they are going to need to have Andy Fitzpatrick, the person from Abbotts who will be working with the board on this, work for very many hours.

Dale Nelson then stated that he would like regular updates about the process of the application once they get the ball rolling. “I just want to make sure that we are getting updates every two weeks on the status, so we don’t lose sight of it, get to the last two weeks, and find out we need help or additional resources to get it submitted,” Nelson said.

Walter stated that this would not be an issue. He stated that the two larger firms they are currently talking to already give regular updates in this regard. The plan is for Abbott to give any information they receive directly to the board.

Nelson then talked about the need for a contract with Abbott. He stated that payment should be based on the application being submitted on time. Bob Sanders also talked about the need for placing a cap on the number of hours the county is going to hire Abbott for. Walter stated that he already had a conversation with Fitzptrick on that topic, and he was under the assumption that the board was likely to do that. Fitzpatrick told Walter that Abbott will likely work four to five hours, but the general consensus of the board was to set the limit at ten. The board was willing to make this number higher after the process began if it was necessary.

Walter also gave a time frame for when the county can expect the money from the IRA refund. He stated that, according to the conversations he has been having, it seems that other counties have been getting their checks between about four and six weeks after the application is submitted.

The board then took a vote to hire Abbotts. In a vote of 8 - 0 - 1, the motion was approved. Board member Hannah Fitzpatrick chose to abstain. Andy Fitzpatrick is Hannah Fitzpatrick’s husband, and a yes vote from her could have been a conflict of interest considering the board is voting to hire him. It should also be noted that Fitzpatrick stayed out of this discussion entirely.

The board also stated that they are going to need a meeting to hire the larger firm, whichever one they decide to go with. It was stated that this meeting is likely to happen this week.
 

[Matt Boutcher]

Additional stories from the February 18 regular meeting of the Logan County Board

Logan County Board Regular Meeting
Logan County Jail Expansion, Logan County tourism Bureau, and staff termination in the Zoning Office
https://archives.lincolndailynews.com
/2025/Feb/21/NEWS/today_county.shtml

Logan County Board Recognizes County Clerk Theresa Moore
https://archives.lincolndailynews.com
/2025/Feb/22/NEWS/today_MOORE.shtml