The Associated Press

MITCHELL - The final price tag for paving a four-mile road to Poet's new ethanol plant in Loomis likely will be significantly higher than first thought, Davison County Commission members have been told.

A company has given the commission an estimate of $1.3 million to put a 5-inch asphalt mat on the recently rebuilt road.

If the estimate is accurate, it means the total cost for rebuilding the Loomis Road will be almost $2.5 million.

Early estimates for rebuilding the road between the plant and state Highway 37 were about $2 million.

About 50 tractor-trailers a day use the road to the plant, officials said in March.

Commissioners are considering whether to adopt a tax increment financing district that would allow the county to take an advance on taxes that would be paid by the plant. But first it must be determined if the difference between property taxes paid before and after plant construction is large enough to support the road project.

The $88 million Prairie Ethanol plant north of Mitchell began operations in December. It can produce 60 million gallons of the fuel additive each year.