A St. Joseph County Council candidate has publicized a list of things that his opponent asked Microsoft to pay for earlier this year as it plans its Granger data center. We looked into whether the list is still relevant.
Republican Jamie O’Brien shared the list this week on his Facebook page. It came in a letter to Microsoft from the man O’Brien defeated in last month’s primary election, County Council member Dan Schaetzle.
The letter lists 18 requests that total over $43 million, ranging from $10 million for the county parks to pay off their recent bond issue, down to $20,000 to the athletic departments in each of the three middle schools in Penn-Harris-Madison schools, where Schaetzle teaches.
But economic development director Bill Schalliol notes that Schaetzle sent the Jan. 3 letter before the county learned that Microsoft won’t be seeking tax abatements for its data centers nationally.
Schalliol says the county is now focused on asking Microsoft to pay to extend water and sewer utilities into Granger.
“So the opportunity to build this utility backbone at a capacity size that will allow us to grow is a huge opportunity," Schalliol says. "That in itself is a community enhancement.”
