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A comment on Improper redaction reveals Google Data Center water and electricity usage. Parent comment

Re:Improper redaction reveals Google Data Center water and e... by WarmWash on Sunday October 04, 2026 @08:30PM (#49959453)
>They are never a net positive for the local community

Nobody talks about the local taxes they pay. Its the reason these town councils rush approvals through. My town would chain children to trees to stop a DC, but if they found out it would halve our property taxes, people would volunteer to cut down the trees themselves.

The problem is though that the town council generally wants to do dumb shit pet hobby projects rather than give everyone a tax break.

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Re:Improper redaction reveals Google Data Center water and e... by lostlogin on Sunday October 04, 2026 @09:08PM (#49959636)
> Nobody talks about the local taxes they pay.

We hear about their tax breaks though. Why don’t they get treated the same as other local businesses, and pay the same rates?

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Re:Improper redaction reveals Google Data Center water and e... by EgregiousCube on Sunday October 04, 2026 @09:29PM (#49959737)
Because the tax revenue of them not coming there is zero, and the tax revenue after the breaks is very significant.
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Re:Improper redaction reveals Google Data Center water and e... by olyjohn on Tuesday October 06, 2026 @04:04PM (#49983313)
Are there any stories you have heard which things have improved notably for the citizens since data centers were put in place? I see a lot of negative articles, but have yet to see where a city has used the revenue to say build a hospital, increase transit, or build something for the citizens, or just improve existing services. This could be a result of my feed being biased, so I'm genuinely curious to hear some stories about the good that these datacenters bring to local areas.
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Re:Improper redaction reveals Google Data Center water and e... by lostlogin on Saturday October 10, 2026 @01:53PM (#50035359)
> the tax revenue after the breaks is very significant.

There is debate about that - and wrapping it all in NDAs makes it hard to assess.

https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/ai-dat...

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Re:Improper redaction reveals Google Data Center water and e... by Gigachad on Monday October 05, 2026 @12:24AM (#49960664)
The datacenter companies are forcing local governments to sign NDAs so they can't discuss the details with other areas, leading to them being pressured in to taking horrible deals that are a net negative for the area without.

They force these NDAs so people can't collaborate and see what a horrible deal they are getting.

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