The 10x property-tax jump under solar panels

From the ag base rate to the solar land base rate

Indiana assesses farmland on a statewide agricultural base rate. For the January 1, 2026 assessment, that rate is $2,120 an acre. When utility-scale solar goes on the land, the Department of Local Government Finance no longer treats those acres as farmland. They move to a separate solar land base rate, which the state set for the 2026 assessment at $18,356 an acre in the North region, $26,141 in the Central region, and $20,000 in the South region.

That higher base rate applies to the acres under the array, and it flows straight into the property-tax bill. The law behind it, House Enrolled Act 1348, created the solar land base rate but did not decide who pays the increase. That is left to your lease. A properly written Indiana solar lease obligates the developer to cover the added assessed value the panels cause. Say plainly what happens if it does not: the reassessment lands on you, the owner of record, and a lease that read like income can become a lease that costs you money every year it runs. This is the clause to get right before anything else.

Ninety-two counties, ninety-two rulebooks

Indiana has no state siting board. Each of its 92 counties sets its own rules for commercial solar and wind under the voluntary defaults in Senate Enrolled Act 411 (2022). That makes the map a patchwork, and the patchwork has been tightening. At the Purdue and Indiana Office of Energy Development December 2022 inventory, 54 counties already had commercial-solar ordinances on the books, and more have been added or made stricter since.

For wind the picture is harder. The Purdue/OED inventory identifies eight counties that do not permit commercial wind in any zoning district: Allen, Carroll, Fulton, Pulaski, Tippecanoe, Washington, Wayne, and Wells. It is worth being precise about solar, too: the companion solar report names no county that prohibits commercial solar outright. Solar is more often restricted than banned, which is why the terms and the local ordinance, rather than a simple yes or no, are what govern whether your project happens.

Boone County shows the direction of travel. It adopted a solar-and-wind moratorium in 2024. As that moratorium was set to expire, the county advanced a restrictive Energy Overlay District ordinance, reported to cap utility-scale solar at 400 acres with 500-foot property-line and 1,000-foot non-participant setbacks. A restrictive ordinance is likely now in force, though we have not independently confirmed the final commissioners vote, so treat Boone as tightening rather than settled. The broader lesson holds regardless: because Indiana has no statewide decommissioning statute either, the county ordinance and your lease are the only protection standing behind cleanup and restoration if a project stalls or the company folds. Read both before you sign.

The demand is real. That is not the same as good terms.

None of this means the interest is fake. Data-center load growth across Indiana is pushing utilities such as AES Indiana, Duke Energy Indiana, and Indiana Michigan Power to procure more solar, and developers keep working the willing counties as a result. If a developer is calling, the demand behind the call is genuine. But genuine demand is exactly why the smart move is to scrutinize the lease, not the interest. The reassessment clause, the decommissioning security, the option length, and the escalators decide whether that real demand turns into a good deal for you or just a good deal for the developer.

How AgriTerra handles Indiana in a report

When an AgriTerra report shows a solar or wind estimate for an Indiana parcel, it runs the parcel through a county-level policy gate and attaches the Indiana-specific disclosure above, the solar land base rate reassessment, so the number reflects the tax that follows a conversion and whether a project could be permitted where you are, not just what the resource is worth. You can read how that gate works on our methodology page: how we check whether a lease can actually be built. Because the federal tax-credit rules changed in 2025 and shape buildout odds here too, pair this with our explainer on what the 2025 federal energy law means for your farmland. And for the sourced read on your own parcel, that is what the Decision Report is for.

The standing recommendation does not change: have a qualified attorney or advisor review any lease, option, or letter of intent before you sign, and make sure the reassessment increase is assigned to the developer in writing. Purdue Extension’s guide to wind energy contracts is a good, free place to start reading on how these leases are structured.

Related reading: why we will tell you a lease won't happen on your land, plus the CAUV recoupment invoice Ohio landowners don’t see coming and why the Iowa wind boom moved to repowering.