Trending
When a data center is built, its property valuation spikes by tens of millions of dollars. If that development sits outside a TIF area, those new property tax dollars immediately flow to where they are needed most: our local schools, our county services, and our city’s general fund to pay for police, fire, and parks. But if you place it inside a TIF boundary, 100% of that new tax revenue is legally trapped inside the TIF allocation fund. We would be intentionally starving our school district and essential county services of a massive windfall they should be receiving on day one.”
A TIF account does nothing to help our day-to-day operational liquidity. It keeps money locked in a legal silo where it cannot easily be spent on general city operations.
If a data center developer is fully self-financing their project and demands zero public dollars, the area does not meet the spirit or intent of an urban renewal zone. Using TIF boundaries for an unassisted, highly profitable tech project dilutes the integrity of our economic development tools and sets a dangerous precedent for future zoning.”
In conclusion, if data center does not need a TIF deal like the city says, it should not be in a TIF area. Boundary lines need to be redrawn on the north side parcel where you want a data center so it is not in a TIF area. By keeping our boundaries clean and keeping this project in our standard tax base, we ensure that our schools are funded, our city’s general fund is strengthened, and the taxpayers get immediate relief. I urge the council to keep this Data Center development outside of our urban renewal boundaries.