By Anton Riecher
Medina County commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to terminate an economic development agreement between the county and Microsoft involving an 80 percent tax abatement for construction of the first in a growing number of area data centers.
In the wake of the growing controversy concerning data center development, Microsoft announced it would no longer seek tax abatements for new data centers and is actively working to unwind existing tax break agreements.
“The Microsoft position now on all these agreements is to terminate them like it never happened,” County Judge Keith Lutz said.
Earlier this year Microsoft President Brad Smith announced a “community-first” plan for artificial intelligence and cloud infrastructure. As part of this initiative, Microsoft pledged to stop seeking local property tax abatements and pay its full share of local property taxes. The company also pledged to “unwind” exiting tax incentive agreements previously secured.
Initially, the termination of the…LOGIN TO CONTINUE READING at www.devinenewsmembers.com. You will get instant access to our full E-edition, and begin getting the newspaper delivered to your home next week for $42 a year in Medina County. Support important local city, county, and school news like this!