(The Center Square) – The Wisconsin Senate approved an exception to the state’s tax incremental financing rules for a planned data center in Port Washington.
The data center is expected to be constructed and could open before the end of the year.
The bill allows the data center to be part of a TIF, meaning that the increased property taxes from the property being developed will be captured and allowed to be used for future improvements on the property instead of going to the local tax base.
The bill creates an exemption to a statewide 12% limit on the amount of property in a municipality that can be part of a TIF.
The 12% rule is in place related to local property taxes because the exemptions mean that businesses in a TIF aren’t paying into the local property tax base yet are using local resources. Therefore, companies are able to retain the funds to spend on future improvements of their facilities.
Tax breaks for data centers nationwide are being questioned due to the lack of long-term jobs at the sites, the energy needs and the potential increase in consumer energy bills that accompany those data centers.
Sen. Jodi Habush-Sinykin, D-Whitefish Bay, claimed the project would lead to “hundreds or even thousands of good paying” while claiming the Vantage Data Centers project would “meaningfully expand the local tax base of Port Washington.”
The expansion of tax base, however, has not proven true as at least 10 states are currently losing $100 million or more in taxes from data centers, according to an April report from Good Jobs First.
Assembly Bill 140 passed the Senate 28-3 after passing the Assembly 91-6.
The average American’s energy bill could increase from 25% to 70% in the next 10 years without intervention from policymakers, according to Washington, D.C.-based think tank the Jack Kemp Foundation.
