The
H.B. 6514 An Act Concerning Incentives for Qualified Data Centers to Locate in the State defines a qualified data center as a facility that houses networked computer servers in one location, thus centralizing the storage and dissemination of data.
The legislation allows exemptions from sales and use, property, and financial transactions taxes, if the developer of the data center applies to the commissioner of the
To get a 20-year agreement, the data center must make an investment of $50 million if the center is located in an enterprise zone or opportunity zone, or $200 million if it isn't. The commissioner can extend the agreement to 30 years if the investment is $200 million in an enterprise zone or opportunity zone, or $400 million otherwise.
A developer or owner can't begin construction or renovation of a data center until entering into an agreement negotiated with the host municipality, which could require payments in lieu of taxes. If the terms of the agreement aren't met, the data center has 180 days to remedy the issue or else the agreement can be terminated and the data center is liable for taxes.
The state's nonpartisan
Collins stressed repeatedly that towns don't have to take advantage of this opportunity, that they can say no to an agreement they don't find beneficial.
Some legislators expressed that they think a 30-year period is too long for a tax abatement program, but Sen.
A vocal advocate for the bill, Somers said it would create a landscape needed to increase jobs, decrease reliance on the gaming and defense industries, and provide opportunities for land that otherwise isn't being used.
She stressed that hyperscale data centers need consistent energy, fiber connectivity, and land, but unlike other buildings that require sewer and other infrastructure, data centers could be located in more rural areas. They also are attacted by tax breaks.
Somers also noted that data is doubling every 18 months and there's not enough cloud space for storage, and that
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Sen.
In response to Sampson, Sen.
Needleman said in addition to the "huge amount of money required to construct one of these facilities, the ever-hanging technology means much of the equipment becomes obsolete within 2-3 years and has to be replaced."
DECD Commissioner
Beyond job creation, Lehman said the two main benefits are growth in a town's grand list and income tax revenue. He also commented, "When you have state-of-the art data centers, you generally are going to have financial and technology jobs that want to be proximate to those data centers."
He said this legislation would not impact existing data centers unless they decided to do a large enough renovation or new construction.
Monday morning, Senate Democratic leadership said in a press release they expected the bill to pass, but announced a commitment to vote on another bill later in the session "to address the environmental impacts of data centers, including green building standards, emission standards for diesel generators used by data centers, and environmental justice."
This was a concern that Sen.
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