Now that Microsoft has declared it’s not seeking a property tax break for its Granger data center, some St. Joseph County leaders have asked Amazon to do the same.
The initial value of Amazon’s abatement was $4 billion over 35 years.
During the 10-hour-long December county council meeting, where the council voted down a rezoning sought by another data center developer near New Carlisle, multiple people, including some elected officials, said the county had needlessly given Amazon too many incentives.
After all, the county had what Amazon needed. The site sits atop one of the nation’s richest aquifers to cool the data center, and it’s well-situated geographically near Chicago with connection to a major dark fiber highway that runs along the Indiana Toll Road.
So earlier this month four of the council’s five Republicans, Amy Drake, Joe Thomas, Randy Figg and Andy Rutten, sent Amazon a letter asking if they’ll renegotiate their deal. They noted that Microsoft has gone back to the bargaining table and canceled a previously agreed to abatement plan with LaPorte County.
An Amazon spokesman did not immediately respond to WVPE’s interview request Monday.
