A new analysis released today from Good Jobs First finds that state and local governments are losing tax revenue to data center subsidies at an unprecedented rate, with costs rising sharply in states that disclose the value of their tax breaks and many others still failing to report the losses at all. Transparency also remains a large issue: 14 states with data center tax exemptions still do not publish comprehensive annual revenue-loss figures, making it difficult for lawmakers and taxpayers to understand the true cost of the incentives.* [In short, taxpayer’s pockets are being picked by wealthy firms and special interests. While local programs such as school or library budgets are potentially hurt. Homeowner property taxes could rise drastically the over the shortfalls. – AutoCrat]
“Taxpayer costs are rising far faster than policymakers anticipated, while disclosure and accountability continue to lag behind,” said Kasia Tarczynska, Good Jobs First senior research analyst and the report’s author. “States cannot have an honest debate about the costs and benefits of data centers if billions of dollars in lost revenue remain hidden from public view.
Among the report’s (“Even Cloudier with a Greater Loss of Spending Control: How Data Center Tax Abatements Undermine Public Budgets”) key findings:
- Georgia raised its projected fiscal year 2026 cost estimate by 664% – to $2.5 billion and expects losses by FY 2027 to approach $3 billion. Georgia localities alone are projected to lose $1.1 billion in 2026 and $1.4 billion in 2027 due to state-awarded exemptions.
- Texas now projects annual losses exceeding $1 billion, rising from $1 billion in FY 2025 to $1.3 billion in FY 2026. And they’ll keep growing: over the five-year period from 2025 to 2030, total losses could reach $9 billion.
- Virginia estimates nearly $2 billion in combined state and local revenue losses in FY 2025 from its sales and use tax exemption.
- In Ohio, newly released figures show losses jumped from $555 million in 2024 to $1.6 billion in 2025, prompting Gov. Mike DeWine to pause the program for new applicants.
- Indiana recently disclosed that it had lost $655 million through its data center sales tax exemption program as of 2025, with more than 83% of the subsidy benefiting Amazon in 2025.
Data Centers Often Receive Substantial Property Tax Abatements
- In Oregon, facilities owned by Amazon, Apple, Alphabet, and Meta received $616 million in property tax abatements between 2016 and 2025.
- Sales and use tax exemptions typically mean less revenue for both state and localities, but local governments are generally less well-informed than states. Among the few states that do report passive local revenue losses (caused by state-awarded tax exemptions), the trends are alarming. For example, Georgia localities are estimated to be losing $1.1 billion in 2026 and $1.4 billion in 2027.
- In addition, at the local level, data centers often also benefit from property tax abatements. When data are available, it shows that those abatements are growing too. Between 2016 and 2025, data centers in Oregon owned by Amazon, Apple, Alphabet, and Meta benefited from $616 million in property tax abatements. In that period, the annual program costs jumped by 762%.
- In some instances, cost estimates have only come to light through public statements by elected officials, individual lawmakers requesting the figures, news media, or civil society groups making public records requests.
- In Wisconsin, for example, a state senator requested that the Legislative Fiscal Bureau produce the data center sales and use tax exemption estimated costs. The bureau projected that if four data center projects are built as planned, the state will lose $1.5 billion during construction and $269 million annually going forward
“At a minimum, lawmakers should pause new subsidies, require complete transparency, and establish caps, sunset dates, and stronger safeguards,” Tarczynska said. Good Jobs First recommends that states also conduct a comprehensive review of all the subsidies data centers receive and their costs. “Ultimately, states need to decide whether these massive giveaways still make sense in an industry that is already experiencing explosive growth,” said Tarczynska.
*AutoInformed on
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
Data Center Tax Abatements Threaten State Budgets and You
A new analysis released today from Good Jobs First finds that state and local governments are losing tax revenue to data center subsidies at an unprecedented rate, with costs rising sharply in states that disclose the value of their tax breaks and many others still failing to report the losses at all. Transparency also remains a large issue: 14 states with data center tax exemptions still do not publish comprehensive annual revenue-loss figures, making it difficult for lawmakers and taxpayers to understand the true cost of the incentives.* [In short, taxpayer’s pockets are being picked by wealthy firms and special interests. While local programs such as school or library budgets are potentially hurt. Homeowner property taxes could rise drastically the over the shortfalls. – AutoCrat]
“Taxpayer costs are rising far faster than policymakers anticipated, while disclosure and accountability continue to lag behind,” said Kasia Tarczynska, Good Jobs First senior research analyst and the report’s author. “States cannot have an honest debate about the costs and benefits of data centers if billions of dollars in lost revenue remain hidden from public view.
Among the report’s (“Even Cloudier with a Greater Loss of Spending Control: How Data Center Tax Abatements Undermine Public Budgets”) key findings:
Data Centers Often Receive Substantial Property Tax Abatements
“At a minimum, lawmakers should pause new subsidies, require complete transparency, and establish caps, sunset dates, and stronger safeguards,” Tarczynska said. Good Jobs First recommends that states also conduct a comprehensive review of all the subsidies data centers receive and their costs. “Ultimately, states need to decide whether these massive giveaways still make sense in an industry that is already experiencing explosive growth,” said Tarczynska.
*AutoInformed on
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn. He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe. Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap. AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks. Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.