Communities meet in Jackson to discuss pros and cons of building data centers

Melinda Todd, with the Mississippi Urban Research Center at Jackson State, opened the discussion by highlighting tax revenue that centers can bring to cities and counties where they are developed.

“Through property and personal equipment taxes, which help fund local public services, schools, infrastructure, healthcare, and emergency services,” said Todd.

In the Jackson metro area, 11 data centers are currently in operation, and nine are in the planning phase. Many have deals that allow the companies to pay flat annual fees in lieu of standard tax rates.

According to data from the Stennis Institute of Government and Community Development, as well as the Madison County Board of Supervisors, the deals bring in millions of dollars each year and are contingent to meeting development benchmarks.

But critics say these deals produce much less income for a county or city, locked in contracts for sometimes decades.

Yolanda Daniel, with Environmental Advocates of Mississippi, also served on the panel. She said Mississippians deserve transparency in these deals and how the companies are performing.

“What gets monitored, gets managed,” said Daniel. “So, if you have no way to monitor something, how can you manage it?”

Experts say health effects are another key issue that governments should consider when in talks with data center developers.  

Natalie Speaks of Brandon joined the panel to discuss her health concerns related to data centers. She says her son has asthma, and she was shocked when officials announced that a data center is being built near her son’s middle school. Recent data about pollution from generators located at data centers, as well as the noise they produce, became a serious concern for her and her family.

She urged other Mississippians to ask questions and seek information about proposed projects.

 “As a mom, as a resident, I’m extremely concerned about not just what these centers will actually mean for our communities, but also our lives,” said Speaks.

Among the crowd of roughly two dozen people was JSU Grad Student Debra Braddock. She says there's lots of talk online about data centers.

“But how much do I really know about the data centers? And so I wanted to come and get an understanding of what the benefits are,” said Braddock. “I’ve heard a lot of the downfalls of it, but I’ve also heard a lot today about what the benefits are of it.”