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Tax panel debates barring commercial data centers from BEDI and Dirigo incentives
Summary
A legislative work session on LD 713 considered an amendment to exclude purpose‑built commercial data centers from Maine's BEDI and Dirigo incentives, while preserving benefits for in‑house servers that support a business's core operations. Lawmakers disagreed on the test language and voted motions about reporting and definition refinements.
The Joint Standing Committee on Taxation opened a work session on LD 713, a carryover concept draft amended to prevent certain data centers from qualifying for Maine business tax incentives under the business equipment tax exemption (BEDI) and the Dirigo business incentive program.
Steve Langland, analyst for the committee, told members the amendment would bar property "located in a data center that begins operations on or after July 1" from BEDI and Dirigo and would define "begins operations" as a site that has "installed operational computer and networking equipment and is performing data processing, storage, cloud, or related computer services." Langland said the draft excludes construction, site preparation and equipment installation from that trigger.
Sponsor Nicole Rohowsky said the change is…
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