Democrat Rob Sand says if he’s elected governor, he’d sign a bill banning tax breaks for data centers.
Sand has been discussing the topic on the campaign trail and posted this statement on social media in July. “Data centers in Iowa right now get a tax break. Every piece of equipment that they put in their data center, they don’t pay taxes on,” Sand said. “That’s crazy. They should pay taxes just like everybody else.”
Data centers can claim sales tax refunds on computer purchases. There’s also a property tax exemption for the computers and equipment used to operate a data center.
Sand today released a series of steps he says will ensure data centers are contributing to Iowa’s economy, like requiring data centers to pay 100% of the costs of infrastructure upgrades and energy usage. Sand also said any data center deal with a local Iowa government should be a public record and include information about water and energy usage as well as the wages workers will be paid. “If we make an investment in a data center and the jobs don’t last two years because we won’t even put that in the contract, then when they go, all that money goes, too,” Sand said during a town hall last year.
Sand also is calling for companies building data centers to hire construction workers who are Iowa union members and he said there should be open public hearings and town halls when data centers are proposed in a city or county.