ROCKLAND – Knox County Commissioners met via Zoom Tuesday, February 14. Agenda items included setting the county's mil rate for 2023. County Administrator Andrew Hart cited the mil rate at .001048536.  

Hart said the county must wait until they receive the state’s certified valuations before they can proceed with the mil rate. The mil rate for 2022 was .00106261, so the mil rate went down, according to Hart, even though the county’s budget was up.  

Hart said there were significant increases in towns valuations.  

Hart said because of that, the municipalities in Knox County can see their county tax go up or down because the budget increases, or the mil rate increases, but in a lot of cases it’s because the state valuations increase. 

The new mil rate passed 3-0 in a commission vote.  

Next on the agenda was an act to set the delinquent tax rate for 2023. Commissioners voted 3-0 to set the rate at eight percent. Because the county gets paid by the towns and not the residents, that rate is applied when towns miss the deadline to pay the taxes.  

Commissioners voted 3-0 to approve Pine Tree Solar of Hermon with the $1,234,800 contract for a solar array at the Knox County Airport.  

Knox County Airport Manager Jeremy Shaw said that with the cost of energy doubling, it was a crucial project for the long-term financial viability of the airport.  

“It will knock off a $60,000 budget line item for us,” said Shaw. “It will generate power for us, and we can sell a little bit of extra power.” 

Michael Griggs, owner of Pine Tree Solar, said it will be a 441-kilowatt installation. 

“It will produce a little over one-half million kilowatts a year,” he said. “We currently have it calculated at 102-percent of the energy requirement for the airport.” 

Griggs said no trees would need to be cut that would impact the installation site.  

Commissioner Ed Glaser said it was his understanding that additional trees would be planted to shield the site from the road.  

Shaw responded that there would be 265 plantings and there would be no impact to the solar glare or to planes landing and taking off.