By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
County commissioners court members voted against giving tax abatements or tax incentives to developers of data centers who might want to build in Val Verde County.
The court voted during its most recent regular meeting on July 15 after discussing the issue.
According to Forbes magazine, “Data centers reliably store and process vast amounts of data. Many businesses have relied on them for decades, but what’s changed is that data centers are now being built to train and run AI, which needs more power and specialized hardware. The growing demand of data centers brings significant challenges. While they bring economic benefits like construction jobs and tax revenue, their immense energy and water consumption strain local resources and grids.”
County Judge Lewis G. Owens Jr. opened the discussion during the court’s July 15 meeting, saying he has received calls from county residents who are concerned about the possibility of a data center or centers being sited somewhere in the county.
Owens said he was told a specific piece of property had been sold for the development of a data center but added when he checked in the county clerk’s office, where a deed indicating a transfer of ownership would be filed, he found that the piece of property in question has not changed ownership.
Owens said, “If it has sold, that property has not transferred ownership. But we have gotten a ton of phone calls. They want us to do a moratorium, (saying) that the county should ban them. I think we would open ourselves up to a lawsuit (if we do something) we don’t have the power to go do. The court does have some teeth in this, as to where we could give them tax abatements or incentives.”
The county judge said the item he had placed on the court’s agenda would give the court the opportunity to show that it would not consider giving tax incentives or abatements to data center developers.
Owens also said Commissioner Pct. 1 Kerr Wardlaw has been reading about data centers, and Commissioner Pct. 3 Fernando Garcia recently attended a seminar where data centers were discussed and said Garcia returned “really, really concerned” about them.
Owens said, “I put this item on the agenda because we were sitting two weeks ago with a group, and they want to do a moratorium. I said I personally would not put it on. I’m not like Hill County, where we get sued for $100 million because we’re trying to do something that we can’t do, but the incentives and abatements, we could take action on that, to take a vote that at this time, the court would not give incentives or abatements for data centers. So I’ll open it up to concerns or even to a motion.”
Commissioner Pct. 4 Gustavo “Gus” Flores asked, “I’ve got a question: Would data centers only be allowed to be built outside the city limits or inside the city limits?”
Owens replied, “We have no data center as of right now coming to us wanting to be built inside the city limits or outside the city limits. To be perfectly clear, we don’t have anybody.”
He added he did not believe the court would give tax incentives or tax abatements to data center developers.
Owens said, “That is the stick that we do have and can use, but other than that we have two areas (in the county) where there is zoning, but again, today, there is nobody coming to us and saying I would like to purchase land, and I’m coming to you all for a data center.”
Commissioner Pct. 2 Juan Carlos Vazquez asked, “So this (agenda) item would be just yes or no?”
Owens responded, “This item would be to make a motion that Val Verde County would not give tax incentives.”
Vazquez said, “I’ll make a motion, judge, that we will not give any tax incentives or abatements for data centers.”
Wardlaw said, “I’ll second that, but I have some information to share with the court to show that there is a concern.”
He added, “I’ve had people come in and contact me that they’re worried about data centers coming. Some people are saying we’re not under threat from data centers, but I don’t know that Val Verde County citizens are aware that when the (high-voltage) transmission line that was proposed to come through chose Route 4, and . . . that while they were there, they’re going to go ahead and put in fiber optic down that transmission line that crosses Val Verde County, so, yes, that is inviting and trying to set up the situation so that a data center can be put in along the route of the transmission line. That’s what the fiber optic cable is for.”
Wardlaw said he believes once fiber optic cable is laid along the route of the high-voltage transmission line, a data center could be sited anywhere along that route.
Flores commented, “I mean, it’s obvious that we can’t stop ’em. They’re building them here and there and everywhere. So we’ll deal with it when it comes to the attention of the court, if it does happen here in Val Verde County.”
Owens said, “The one in Hill County, the property (where the data center was to be sited) was worth $7,000, and the next year it was worth $8,000 an acre. The (data center developers) went in and offered $100,000 an acre, so there were four families that they’ve offered $80 million to, and part of the conversation I had two weeks ago, I don’t want to get in the way of an individual selling their land. I really don’t, but as an elected official, you need to try and take care of everybody else around them also.”
“That’s not what this states. This right here is what we can do today, to put out a statement to our constituents, that we would not give (data centers) tax incentives or a tax abatement, and that’s what this is about,” Owens said.
Garcia asked, “Are we going to adopt this as a policy or is this just a statement?”
Owens replied, “This right now is a motion of commissioners court.”
“So it’s not a county policy that . . .” Garcia began.
“It would result in a court order,” County Attorney David Martinez interjected.
“I just wanted to make sure it had some teeth,” Garcia added.
“It’s a commissioners court order,” Owens said.
Owens called for the vote, and the court voted unanimously to approve the motion.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com.
