Montgomery County Commission approves tax breaks for Google’s data center

By: Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) -- The Montgomery County Commission on Monday unanimously approved tax breaks to Google for its $15 billion data center that was announced last month.

Presiding Commissioner Ryan Poston confirmed the 3-0 vote in a text message to ABC 17 News.

The plan was prepared under Missouri’s Chapter 100 law and called for the county to issue taxable industrial revenue bonds.

Previous reporting shows a cost-benefit analysis showed it must also maintain at least 75 high-wage jobs per building to qualify for the benefits.

Data centers nationwide have been met with pushback from residents, with water and electricity usage among the often-cited concerns. Columbia and Camdenton each passed one-year moratoriums in May on the applications and building of data centers.

Montgomery County residents late last year and earlier this year showed out against Amazon’s attempt to build a data center in the county. Residents and property owners also filed a lawsuit in February in an attempt to halt its construction.