There is one permanent job being created, but that's not what the tax break is for.
Cities offer tax breaks because there are other advantages. Vendor services, long term tax base (largely through property tax), infrastructure improvements (grid capacity, fiber, etc)and temporary construction work. You might say the temporary construction work is worth very little, but then you have to recognize much of the tax breaks are bound to the temporary construction phase as well.
We can weigh the pros and cons but this article is not doing that.
This is 100% a screwing of the taxpayers, and that’s before you consider all the more productive ways that money could be spent.
Do these projects fund these? Because the crux of the best argument against data centers is hinged on a lack of infrastructure (power, water etc.) availability.
The tax exemption was for SALES TAX on MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT for CONSTRUCTION, because those local purchases helped the local construction industry.
You can read the actual authorizing resolution for yourself here:
https://rocklandida.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Authorizi...
The idea that permanent jobs were some kind of a trade, or even factored into the decision at all, is completely fabricated.
I do agree that local jobs have nothing to do with this decision, because it’s clearly a stupid one if that’s the case.
When you’re saying this in poverty-stricken areas like West Virginia, it’s really no different from this stomach-turning scene from Succession: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biN5cvMjRtI
Absolutely vile.
