The Montgomery County Council is all-but-certain to hike property taxes on residents again in the fiscal year starting this July. They've done it every year in recent times, except for a paltry average $12 "tax cut" in the election year of 2014. By contrast, Loudoun County, Virginia across the river will be delivering a property tax cut to residents there this year. The difference? Not only more business growth and jobs created than Montgomery County over the last decade, but its new position as "data center capital of the world," The Washington Post reported earlier this week.
A shocking new statistic emerged in the Post report on the budget situations in the five biggest counties in Northern Virginia. Loudoun County's data centers generate a full 38% of that county's total revenue. Data centers are often criticized for representing very few jobs, as staffing is minimal at each. But they clearly generate bigtime revenue.
Of course, these data centers require massive amounts of electricity, something Montgomery County and Maryland lack because our elected officials ordered the closure of 8 coal-fired power plants across the state since 2012. High-wage jobs are something else MoCo lacks, as it has failed to attract any new major corporate headquarters in over 25 years. Heckuva job, Brownie!
While I would rather see an aerospace research facility, or a major defense firm headquarters fill our underutilized and vacant office parks, imagine if there was a data center on each of the office properties among those that have been converted to luxury townhomes in recent years. Residential housing is a revenue loser for the County, as our structural budget deficit proves. Data centers are a revenue winner, as homeowners in Loudoun County will be delighted to tell you, when they receive their FY-2026 property tax cut.
5 comments:
Democrats are like that bitter spouse in a divorce willing to burn the house down leaving their kids with nothing. The best example was the speech in front of congress with the democrats refusing to acknowledge the kid with a terminal illness yet cheered and clapped when Trump mentioned the 350B spent in Ukraine.
More Boone's Farm.
" Residential housing is a revenue loser for the County, as our structural budget deficit proves." These idiots on the Council are so short sighted taking quick cash from developers they are blinded to the long term costs, despite the obvious history lesson right in front of them, time after time after time. And the quality of life in MoCo goes right down the crapper.
The problem with MD politicians, (especiallythe MC Council), is that they want the revenue but don't want the businesses, (catering to BCC NIMBY's). They would have no problem putting data centers in PG but the overall tax climate of MD is not friendly at all.
The sign gives them too much credit for they are clueless.
Post a Comment