Data Center Tax Breaks Come at the Cost of Our Public Schools

This West Virginia Center on Budget & Policy analysis traces how HB 2014's tax breaks and deregulation for "High Impact Data Centers" cut into the property, sales and income taxes that fund public schools. Under the law, property tax revenue from these data centers sends 70 percent to state priorities and just 30 percent to counties, versus more than 99 percent to local governments and school districts from any other development. One tax break alone, a salvage value discount, would save a data center with $2 billion in equipment $24.1 million a year in property taxes — money that would otherwise flow toward schools.