MERIDIAN, Texas (KXXV) — The Bosque County Commissioners Court held a meeting to discuss tax abatement on data centers.
- The commissioners plan to revise the tax abatement with the information that community members presented during the meeting
- The court has until June 17 to make revisions to the tax abatement
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
“Mandate a closed-loop cooling system," said Billy Wren, a local resident.
On Tuesday, the Bosque County Commissioners Court discussed proposed tax cuts for future data center developments in the county. It was standing room only as local residents filled the courtroom, with many community members voicing strong opposition to the possibility of data centers coming to Bosque County.
Concerns raised during the meeting included the impact on rural infrastructure, water use, noise, energy demand, and the overall effect that such developments could have on the county’s character and quality of life.
“I’m not for sure how the data center fills itself. Where that water is coming from still hasn’t been told to me. Y'all don’t have to answer that the water toxicity," said one local resident.
“Have our firefighters received training on hazard-specific to data center facilities such as lithium batteries, fire hog voltage incidents, and large-scale diesel fuel events?" asked another resident.
Bill Wren, a local resident, who said having the proper tax abatement can make data centers think twice about their next move.
“To hold Cyrus One that’s under construction… a 400MW data center, we’re going to hold them accountable and make sure that our fire departments are equipped to handle our lithium-ion battery fire and that we have the infrastructure to support that," said Wren.
“It is not jobs for our people here…it is nothing for our people here, it is destruction. No water, no electricity… this is a life or death situation we’re talking about," Rhonda Raines, a local resident.
Precinct 4 Commissioner Ronny Liardon said the county is changing, and data centers have the potential of possibly bringing in $8 million in taxes to the county.
In the end, the commissioners said they would take no action on the proposed tax abatement at this time. They added that when the current agreement expires, the abatement will end unless new terms are approved.
