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Resident urges scrutiny of TIFs and warns of data-center impacts on water and power
Summary
At the March 16 Batavia City Council meeting, resident Yvonne Dinwiddie urged the council to audit TIF districts and raised concerns about data centers' water and power use, while councilors clarified an approved local data center will be limited to 50 megawatts and use a closed-loop cooling system.
Yvonne Dinwiddie, a Batavia resident who gave her address at the podium, told the City Council she is conducting an audit of tax-increment financing (TIF) districts and urged elected officials to scrutinize how TIF funds are spent. “I am absolutely 100050% opposed to TIFs,” she said, calling them “a scam on the taxpayers.”
Dinwiddie warned the council about data-center proposals she said are coming into the region and asserted large facilities could require “1.2 to 1.8 gigawatts of power” and “100,000 gallons of water a day.” She read sections of a North Aurora ordinance she said addresses groundwater contamination near Butterfield Road and said long-term groundwater impacts should concern Batavia residents.
A council member replied that Batavia previously approved a data center in the industrial park with a maximum size of 50 megawatts and that it would not be built to full size immediately. The councilor said the approved facility will use a closed-loop cooling system that does not draw water daily and that, on a periodic schedule (every 2,000–2,200 days), the system will be drained and the water trucked to and discharged into the municipal sewer system under applicable standards. “It will have to meet the standards to be able to be discharged into our sewer system,” the councilor said.
Councilors and the public commenter also discussed broader regional activity: Dinwiddie noted neighboring municipalities have adopted or considered moratoria and restrictions; the councilor stressed Batavia controls development within its boundaries but acknowledged cumulative regional effects on power and water distribution.
Why it matters: Dinwiddie’s public comment flagged two issues that the council may be asked to address: how the city evaluates and monitors the fiscal impacts of TIFs, and how it assesses environmental and resource commitments tied to large industrial users. Council members said staff will continue to monitor regional regulation and consider educational or policy responses.
What’s next: The topics raised were discussed briefly by councilors during the meeting. The council did not take formal action on TIF policy or data-center regulations at this session, but councilors noted neighboring municipalities’ moratoria and ongoing regional conversations.
