Democrats are using campaign ads to claim that Republican candidates gave data centers massive tax breaks, citing figures like $20 billion in Pennsylvania and $70 billion in Michigan, with a Democratic group alleging over $80 billion in Wisconsin. These claims are inaccurate; no such large-scale tax breaks have been enacted, and the figures stem from misinterpretations of local proposals, such as Google’s abandoned $80 million property tax abatement plan in Hermantown, Minnesota, which would have reduced taxes over 28 years but was never implemented.
Google announced it would no longer pursue the $80 million in property tax breaks for its proposed 1.7-million-square-foot data center in Hermantown, though it committed to $130 million in infrastructure improvements and projected the project would generate $3 million in annual property taxes once built. Local officials and Google representatives celebrated the change as a collaborative outcome, while community opposition groups maintained their stance against the project, citing concerns over land use and community impact. The city estimates the data center would generate $240 million in total property taxes over 20 years, with $90 million going to the city and $120 million to St. Louis County, though exact school district contributions remain unspecified.
The campaign attacks reflect a broader political strategy by Democrats to link Republicans to corporate tax giveaways, but the $80 billion figure is a fabrication with no basis in actual legislation. The confusion arises from misrepresenting Google’s withdrawn proposal, which involved phased tax abatements tied to specific conditions and was never approved. As the Hermantown case shows, tax breaks for data centers are often negotiated and subject to public scrutiny, but the claim of a nationwide $80 billion giveaway is unsupported and misleading.
