URBANA — After hearing public outcry over environmental impacts, noise concerns, and other uncertainties about data centers, the Champaign County board unanimously approved a resolution on Oct. 13, prohibiting tax abatements for hyperscale data center construction.
The resolution states that “The policy of Champaign County, Illinois shall be to not negotiate any property tax abatement agreement, any payment in lieu of taxes agreement, or any other concession to facilitate the development and construction of any hyperscale data center within Champaign County, Illinois.”
This means that if a data center company wants to build in Champaign County, they will still have to pay their fair share in taxes.
District 3 Republican John Farney said during the meeting that he hopes local governments will pass a resolution similar to the county. He’s been spreading the word to leaders he knows at the local level in hopes of forming a cohesive county-wide plan on dealing with data centers.
Farney said municipalities can even take the language of the resolution, as long as it means getting the word out that the government shouldn’t be helping data center companies.
“Municipalities, townships, if there’s some unit of government that you represent, get this language to them. Tell them to steal it,” Farney said. “We just need to say, if your idea is so great, you don’t need to have us help you finance it.”
District 8 Democrat Stephanie Fortado praised the move by the board and echoed Farney’s hope that other governments follow in the footsteps of the County Board.
“This is seeing a problem that’s out there, and then thinking about how we could put policy in place to address that issue, and then giving a blueprint to other agencies,” Fortado explained. “This is absolutely what we as elected officials should be doing.”
According to the resolution, no companies have reached out to the Champaign County Board about the construction of a hyperscale data center in Champaign County, but limiting the tax breaks they can receive may dissuade corporations from trying to move in.
At this time, local governments can still negotiate tax abatements or other forms of payment, if they choose to allow data center construction. It just won’t apply to the county tax bill.
Public concern continues to grow over the long term effects of data centers on the environment, and the Champaign County Data Center Task Force is working to develop a data center ordinance to ensure any future data centers follow strict environmental and operational standards.
The county’s one-year moratorium on large scale data center construction expires in April 2027.