Freestone County court moves toward approving data center tax abatement with safety conditions

Freestone County court considered Item 10, a proposed tax abatement for a data center, and moved toward approving the measure while seeking local safety and first-responder benefits.

Unidentified Speaker 1, identified in the meeting only as the judge, said the county could support a vote "contingent upon some things that we would like to look at that benefit the safety of our county and our first responders, especially in the area to which the plans proposed." That request prompted a company representative to say the applicant was "completely open" to working with the county on such requests.

Why it matters: County leaders framed negotiations around securing direct community benefits — not just the tax outcome — and discussed potential impacts on the local school district and utilities. During the session, speakers cited an estimate that the project could yield roughly $20,000,000 annually for the school district (referred to in the transcript as "Perfel ISD").

Officials also raised environmental and infrastructure questions. A county speaker asked about water use and permits; an applicant representative explained that "the data center uses a closed loop cooling system" and that the facility will not rely on evaporative cooling. The representative said the abatement filing assumed about "1,000 gallons a day, 1,100 gallons a day" and that the project might leverage water currently used at a nearby Calvin site or apply for a well permit with conservation authorities.

Financial details discussed included the I&S tax rate (referred to in the meeting as about 25¢) and the county's view that valuation changes could alter the effective rate. On a distribution proposal, Unidentified Speaker 1 proposed that "50% of the payment" be routed into a pilot program, described in the transcript as a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT).

The court then moved, seconded and called for a voice vote. The transcript records "Aye" responses and the presiding officer asking, "Any opposed?" but does not contain a roll-call tally or a completed recorded outcome in the provided excerpt.

What happens next: The transcript shows the court taking a voice vote after agreeing to seek negotiated community benefits and setting the 50% PILOT allocation proposal; the record provided does not include a final roll-call tally or any later paperwork that would formalize the abatement terms.

Quotes used in this article are drawn from the meeting transcript and attributed to speakers as identified there (several speakers were not named in the transcript and are listed as "Unidentified Speaker" with the role used in the meeting).