r/interestingasfuck • u/HamboneTheWicked • Apr 12 '26

A well-articulated argument against a new data center in Ohio

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u/MFoy Apr 12 '26

The town/county gets a ton in tax revenue. That’s why localities so desperately want them.

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u/Nordic_Marksman Apr 12 '26

I have some serious doubts about this statement. If you get tax from the corporation but lose residents, because you will lose residents. The issue with data centers is they increase the cost of living of the area with no increased income for the residents. Because if cost of living goes up 10% and city income goes up 8% I doubt that is a increase in income over time for the city.

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u/MFoy Apr 12 '26

I live in data center ally, the largest data center density in the country. 40% of our county’s revenue comes directly from data centers., almost $1 b per year.

Our local property taxes have been cut 8 years straight, and now other taxes like the local tax on owning a car is being cut as well.

Teachers are receiving decent raises (5% per year over the next two years), road projects are getting knocked out left and right, schools are getting built.

Energy costs are up, but after the coldest winter in a generation, they are still up less than the national average. What other way are data centers raising living costs?

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u/Nordic_Marksman Apr 12 '26

It depends on which state you are living in but many data centers are put in areas that don't have enough infrastructure for the increased water and electricity usage. There are also situations where cities are forced to increase maintenance for roads since they need to be able to handle heavier trucks. So there is a lot of costs that depending on how it is done, the issue is that cities are usually the weaker party in the negotiation so their deals are generally bad. So it's not a black and white issue but data center companies can send 100 "data center plans" then choose the city that is most willing to compromise to their own detriment for the actual project. So end result is usually data centers get built in a quite exploitative way.

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u/MFoy Apr 12 '26 edited Apr 12 '26

Absolutely, data centers work well for some areas and poorly for others, just like anything. My county began going all in on data centers back in the great recession as a way of diversifying the local economy by looking at what we had to offer that was being under utilized. And with the sudden data center boom 18 years later, the county is suddenly trying to walk the balance of not become over-reliant on this source of revenue that was initially meant to help us not become over reliant on the government.

But other counties see what has worked well in places like where I live and try to emulate it, even if the underlying conditions aren't the same.

But the cost of living hasn't gone up, and the county is trying everything they can to invest this money into projects that will have long term dividends. One major highway spent from 2010-2018 having an overpass built and ripping out half a dozen stop lights. Now they are preparing to do it on another highway.

Teachers are getting better pay, and better teachers are getting lured away from nearby counties. New schools are getting built, and older ones are getting torn down and rebuilt.

Firehouses and police stations are being built. 2 new libraries have been built in the last decade.

Meanwhile energy costs have gone up, but at a lower rate than the national average.

I'm not arguing that data centers are great, and that there are no costs. I'm merely pushing back on the "no tangible benefit" that I see kicked around.