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No.
A 2023-25 budget provision granting a sales tax exemption to data centers was passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature and signed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers in July 2023.
The Legislative Fiscal Bureau said in March that the tax break will cost the state more than $2 billion in sales tax revenue, mostly from massive data centers in Beaver Dam, Port Washington and Mount Pleasant. When the budget was approved in July 2023, hyperscale data centers were so new the fiscal bureau didn’t estimate how much an exemption would affect state tax collections.
While the high cost has drawn scrutiny, the incentive was originally designed to drive economic growth. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 38 states offer tax incentives on data centers.
Wisconsin has about 50 data centers, largely in the Milwaukee and Madison areas.
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Sources
- Wisconsin Watch: Wisconsin data center tax break to cost state more than $2 billion
- Legislative Fiscal Bureau: 2023-25 Wisconsin State Budget
- Data Center Map: Wisconsin Data Centers
- National Conference of State Legislatures: Subsidizing Servers: How States Are Competing to Attract Data Centers
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