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Commissioners hear state-level context on data centers, SB 98 and local implications
Summary
Commission member reported there are no known data centers pursuing Pratt County at present; Senate Bill 98 removed certain sales taxes on data-center construction and requires developers to fund power infrastructure, but development remains speculative and depends on local utility capacity.
A commissioner (S4) briefed the board about recent conversations with the Kansas Department of Commerce and state-level context for data-center proposals.
S4 said Commerce indicated no data centers were in active contact with Pratt County at the time, and emphasized that much proposed development nationally and in Kansas remains speculative. The commissioner explained that Senate Bill 98 (passed in a prior session) provides sales-tax relief on construction materials for data centers while requiring developers to pay for their own power infrastructure, a provision S4 said is important to local utility planning. "As far as I'm aware, there is no data center looking to locate in Pratt County at the moment," S4 said, adding that local electric co-ops and municipal utilities are often the first to know of genuine site proposals.
Commissioners discussed zoning tools and the county comprehensive plan as mechanisms to address possible future interest; staff flagged Barber County’s posted FAQs as a helpful reference for dispelling public misconceptions. The conversation noted that utility capacity, not just incentives, will largely determine whether a data center could realistically locate in Pratt County.
