Saline Township trustees vote against proposed 50% tax abatement for data center

After the Saline Township Board of Trustees was unable to decide on a tax abatement program for the hyperscale data center at last week's meeting, there was once again a heated meeting Tuesday evening that ended with a vote.

Last week's meeting got so heated over a decision on Oracle asking for a 50% reduction in real and personal property taxes for their hyperscale data center, the board nearly decided to suspend public comment until after a vote at Tuesday's meeting

Eventually, public comment was granted, and another fiery meeting ensued, with many residents voicing concerns about the tech company's 12-year tax abatement request for a data center project now estimated at more than $43 billion.

"The tax abatement that is being proposed by this company, which by the way does not need a tax abatement, these are billionaires," said Washtenaw County Commissioner Yousef Rabhi.

The massive data center was once projected to cost just $4.8 billion. But now Oracle is seeking a 50% abatement on nearly 10 times that.

"You guys agreed on something, they changed it, give them the abatement for what they asked for the original," said resident Jack Foley.

After hours of pleading with the Board of Trustees, with dozens of people coming up to the mic during public comment, the board ultimately voted against granting that tax abatement.

"You guys brought up a lot of good points. If you would've done this six months ago, it would have made it a lot easier," said Trustee Gary Luckhardt.

The trustees ultimately decided it was best to see whether they could approve an abatement for the original $4.8 billion price.