How a Washington Tax Break for Data Centers Snowballed Into One of the State’s Biggest Corporate Giveaways
How a Washington Tax Break for Data Centers Snowballed Into One of the State’s Biggest Corporate Giveaways
https://www.propublica.org/article/washington-data-centers-tech-jobs-tax-break
Companies have saved $474 million since 2018, with most of the windfall going to Washington-based tech giant Microsoft. Lawmakers repeatedly expanded who qualifies, and they lowered the number of jobs expected in return.
One of Washington’s largest corporate tax breaks has grown alongside a data center boom in Central Washington, including this data center in East Wenatchee owned by the Sabey Corp. Despite forgoing more than $474 million since 2018, the state can’t say how many jobs were created by the tax break. During that same time frame, it also hasn’t evaluated whether the revenue loss was worth it.