Legislation that would give a tax break to enterprise data centers has the backing of Cornerstone Alliance.
Group President Rob Cleveland was in Lansing this week to testify in favor of House Bills 4905 and 4906. They would create a sales and use tax exemption for the large data centers.
Cleveland tells us there are many sites in Berrien County that would be ideal for such operations.
“We have a number of developers and data center companies looking here in Michigan already and just waiting for the law to be changed,” Cleveland said. “They are locating in other places throughout the Midwest, in Wisconsin, in Illinois, in Indiana. So, we are missing out.”
Cleveland says large data centers use a lot of water and electricity, but otherwise have little footprint.
“Data centers require a very low amount of public services and they have a very high amount of investment. So, from a municipal standpoint, they’re a great type of company to recruit.”
Cleveland says most states allow such a tax exemption for the centers, meaning Michigan is behind on the issue.
The two bills passed the Michigan House last year and are now before the Senate Finance, Insurance, and Consumer Protection Committee. Also present for the testimony on them were state Representative Joey Andrews and Berrien County Commissioner Chokwe Pitchford.
