A St. Joseph County Council member says that unlike Amazon, Microsoft will not seek a property tax break when it builds its data center near Granger.
Republican Council Member Amy Drake voted against the tax breaks that Amazon received because she felt the county was too generous in that case.
Regarding Microsoft, Drake says she and some Granger residents who had opposed their rezoning in 2024 met with company representatives Friday. She says Microsoft agreed not to seek a property tax abatement to build their data center northeast of Capital Avenue and Cleveland Road.
”I think county taxpayers are going to be really happy to hear this," Drake says. "Personally I think people get really resentful when they hear that big tech companies are getting these huge tax breaks and they’re paying higher and higher tax bills.”
County leaders are negotiating a development agreement with Microsoft. As for the other tool often used in big development projects, forming a tax incremental financing, or TIF, district, Drake says she hasn’t yet made up her mind on whether she would support that.
A TIF district captures new property taxes the company pays and uses the money to develop infrastructure in the immediate area instead of sending it to the county’s general fund.
