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They already do, indirectly. The local government gets property taxes from these data centers. But maybe it would be more real for people if you just wrote them

by jrflo 12d ago

They already do, indirectly. The local government gets property taxes from these data centers. But maybe it would be more real for people if you just wrote them a check I guess.

Yhippa 12d ago
New rev source = spend more as opposed to reduce taxpayer burden?
GolfPopper 12d ago
While specifics vary by state and county, data centers have often been getting 100% property tax abatements good for decades.
mikestew 12d ago
The local government gets property taxes from these data centers. Not if they get a sweetheart tax deal. Why do you think folks are so pissy? It’s like a sports stadium next to your house in that the principals get tax breaks, eminent domain, and other considerations, but it makes noise every day(not just weekends) and you don’t get to go to the game.
- forshaper 12d ago
  Even with a state sweetheart tax deal, the most populated county in my state gets half of its property tax income from a datacenter. Projection for one in my county looks like it would hit 70%. tbh I'm more worried about the resource curse from the sudden change in budget
- WarmWash 12d ago
  The sweetheart deals are usually from the state, sometimes the county. Town budgets tend to be so small that ~$20m/yr will have the council falling over themselves to approve it. The problem, from the cases I have looked at, seems to be that towns want to do dumb shit with this money rather than just cut residents a tax break.
  - nancyminusone 12d ago
    Or the towns are not rich enough to fight in a lawsuit after the town council initially says no, which is how my local datacenter was approved against the will of the people
    - sidewndr46 12d ago
      It's like an inverse representative democracy. A government committed to doing the opposite of the people's desires.
  - bluGill 12d ago
    The sweetheart deals I've seen has been the state approving things that mostly affect the locals. A large part of property tax goes to local governments who were given no input in the deal.
- jrflo 12d ago
  I think people are pissy because they're scared of AI and have consumed a lot of misinformation. Most people I know still think that datacenters are going to literally drain the lakes. No one is actually informed on the details, it's all just become a meme at this point. Unless local governments are getting bribed en masse, literally no municipality would want a datacenter if there wasn't a net benefit. I checked in my area and the datacenters are receiving tax breaks, but they also have to pay into the local school districts and fund the energy infrastructure buildout. Just because tax breaks are part of the deal doesn't mean there isn't a net benefit for the community.
  - mikestew 12d ago
    I think people are pissy because they're scared of AI and have consumed a lot of misinformation Just uninformed, are they? To some extent, perhaps they are. OTOH, tech bros aren’t helping any, with Musk’s Memphis DC being the poster child for why you don’t want a DC in your town. They’ll come to your town, make a bunch of noise and pollution, and dare you to enforce the law. “Can’t happen here”? It’s already happened elsewhere. No one is actually informed on the details, it's all just become a meme at this point. Perhaps the principals should be more forthcoming about these deals, rather than springing them on the public after the deal is done, then everyone can be well-informed. As it is, such things have been decided in non-public meetings in enough places to cause some skepticism.
cush 12d ago
Billionaires don’t pay taxes, they receive tax breaks.
sidewndr46 12d ago
I have no idea where you live, but the exact opposite is true everywhere I've lived in the US south. Big businesses pay next to zero tax while residents and small businesses bear the entire tax burden

by jrflo 12d ago

They already do, indirectly. The local government gets property taxes from these data centers. But maybe it would be more real for people if you just wrote them a check I guess.

Yhippa 12d ago

New rev source = spend more as opposed to reduce taxpayer burden?

GolfPopper 12d ago

While specifics vary by state and county, data centers have often been getting 100% property tax abatements good for decades.

mikestew 12d ago

The local government gets property taxes from these data centers. Not if they get a sweetheart tax deal. Why do you think folks are so pissy? It’s like a sports stadium next to your house in that the principals get tax breaks, eminent domain, and other considerations, but it makes noise every day(not just weekends) and you don’t get to go to the game.

forshaper 12d ago
Even with a state sweetheart tax deal, the most populated county in my state gets half of its property tax income from a datacenter. Projection for one in my county looks like it would hit 70%. tbh I'm more worried about the resource curse from the sudden change in budget
WarmWash 12d ago
The sweetheart deals are usually from the state, sometimes the county. Town budgets tend to be so small that ~$20m/yr will have the council falling over themselves to approve it. The problem, from the cases I have looked at, seems to be that towns want to do dumb shit with this money rather than just cut residents a tax break.
- nancyminusone 12d ago
  Or the towns are not rich enough to fight in a lawsuit after the town council initially says no, which is how my local datacenter was approved against the will of the people
  - sidewndr46 12d ago
    It's like an inverse representative democracy. A government committed to doing the opposite of the people's desires.
- bluGill 12d ago
  The sweetheart deals I've seen has been the state approving things that mostly affect the locals. A large part of property tax goes to local governments who were given no input in the deal.
jrflo 12d ago
I think people are pissy because they're scared of AI and have consumed a lot of misinformation. Most people I know still think that datacenters are going to literally drain the lakes. No one is actually informed on the details, it's all just become a meme at this point. Unless local governments are getting bribed en masse, literally no municipality would want a datacenter if there wasn't a net benefit. I checked in my area and the datacenters are receiving tax breaks, but they also have to pay into the local school districts and fund the energy infrastructure buildout. Just because tax breaks are part of the deal doesn't mean there isn't a net benefit for the community.
- mikestew 12d ago
  I think people are pissy because they're scared of AI and have consumed a lot of misinformation Just uninformed, are they? To some extent, perhaps they are. OTOH, tech bros aren’t helping any, with Musk’s Memphis DC being the poster child for why you don’t want a DC in your town. They’ll come to your town, make a bunch of noise and pollution, and dare you to enforce the law. “Can’t happen here”? It’s already happened elsewhere. No one is actually informed on the details, it's all just become a meme at this point. Perhaps the principals should be more forthcoming about these deals, rather than springing them on the public after the deal is done, then everyone can be well-informed. As it is, such things have been decided in non-public meetings in enough places to cause some skepticism.

cush 12d ago

Billionaires don’t pay taxes, they receive tax breaks.

sidewndr46 12d ago

I have no idea where you live, but the exact opposite is true everywhere I've lived in the US south. Big businesses pay next to zero tax while residents and small businesses bear the entire tax burden