Chamber of Commerce executive Mike Berry spoke with Tammy Ramos from KLST on the potential of incoming data centers. Berry noted they could flip San Angelo's taxation from primarily residential to business dominated.
Berry cited area draws for data center location include excess power availability, abundant land (cheaply priced), proximity to natural gas, onsite solar generation, as well as state tax incentives.
Mike shared that City and County leaders are focused on adding infrastructure to accommodate this growth. The level of capital investment represents billions of dollars. Tax revenue comes from added business investment.
Berry noted one transaction could "potentially flip the ratio and take the burden of property taxes off the resident and push it back over to the business side." Really Mike? Lancium, Blackstone, Crusoe, Blue Owl Capital, Microsoft, OpenAI and Primary Digital Infrastructure are willing to pay their fair share of taxes? That has not been the PEU way (private equity underwriter = PEU). And it has not been the mindset of local taxing authorities to require much from new high tech investments.
Tom Green County Commissioners Court and San Angelo's City Council have taken the lesser taxation approach to date with several recent economic development projects. The City of San Angelo granted Peregrine Energy's Zeppelin Battery Storage Farm an 85% tax break for three years. Tom Green County gave Doral Renewables LLC Cold Creek Solar project a significant tax abatement via a payment in lieu of taxes arrangement.
At the time of the Zeppelin tax break the City needed funds to help retirees on their city sponsored health insurance. Council chose to add two new deductibles to loyal longtime employees, many on minimal retirement incomes.
Residents don't have to look far to see San Angelo's future, only 86 miles north in Abilene. Lancium or Project Ludacris started as a bitcoin mining, cheap energy arbitrage play but got swallowed by AI and was "the first Stargate physical project" featured at President Trump's AI event.
Big Country Homepage reported:
Taylor County commissioners agreed to amend a tax abatement for the Lancium project. This abatement will allow Lancium to forgo paying taxes on 80% of their property value to Taylor County for the next 10 years
Once the first two buildings are occupied and the Lancium project is underway – Taylor County will see $4 million to $4.5 million a year in revenue.That's nothing to scoff at but San Angelo's annual budget is much larger according to the city website:
The City of San Angelo is projecting $261.79 million of revenue in FY2025
San Angelo Live reported in 2022:
Residential property taxpayers comprise 71 percent of property tax revenue generated. Commercial property generates only 14 percent of money to the City general revenue fund via property taxes. The remaining 15 percent of property tax revenue comes from taxable personal property, inventory, and business fixtures.Skybox Data Centers is coming and Cloudnium believes the next data center boom will occur in San Angelo (where they already have a presence):
San Angelo, Texas, is poised to become the next major data center boom location, thanks to its unique advantages and the visionary leadership of Cloudnium.net. With its central location, business-friendly environment, robust infrastructure, and emerging tech ecosystem, San Angelo offers unparalleled opportunities for data center investment and growth. As Cloudnium.net continues to lead the way, the city is set to become a key player in the global data center landscape, driving economic growth and innovation for years to come.Visionary leadership of Cloudnium....how many fingers are in this pie?
City retirees already felt the mis-prioritization of recent high-tech tax abatements. Who's next to get short shrift so the greed and leverage boys like Lancium, Blackstone, Crusoe, Blue Owl Capital, Microsoft, OpenAI and Primary Digital Infrastructure can make big money?
Update 6-23-25: Fox West Texas ran a story on West Texas data centers and the promise of taxation. If history is any guide, San Angelo City Council will abate 80% or more of that promise.
