Polling this year show around 70 of Floridians aren’t fond of AI data centers coming to their town.
But Florida TaxWatch (FTW) says there are positive economic impacts that voters should look at before making a final decisions.
FTW just released their latest report on “Data Centers and Florida’s Tax Base: Balancing Fiscal Opportunity, Responsible Development, and Taxpayer Protection.”
FTW says the direct fiscal impacts of the construction and initial operations of a hypothetical 500-megawatt (MW) AI hyperscale data center would have a positive impact on fiscally constrained local governments around the state.
“An increased supply of data centers will benefit the tax base of local communities,” said the analysis.
The report details how new data centers would have a short-term economic boom as in construction jobs and in the long game provide operational jobs.
The other pluses communities would reap the benefits from would be a broader property and sales tax base and at the same time bring in investments in technology.
FTW points out that guardrails will also need to be put in place to make sure the local taxpayer isn’t on the hook when it comes to added costs on a data center’s infrastructure improvement.
In the report, FTW says local citizens should have to oay higher rates and data centers should be required to bear the costs they create. This will require establishment of appropriate utility rate structures and infrastructure charges, as well as strategies to meet long-term commitments.
“Florida taxpayers have genuine concerns about how data centers may affect their water supply, electric utility costs, and those concerns deserve to be answered with an honest and informed conversation about data centers,” said Florida TaxWatch President and CEO Jeff Kottkamp.
