County will spend nearly $500,000 more to fight data center lawsuits
Some of the biggest tech companies in the world — including Microsoft and Amazon — are suing Prince William County over their property tax bills.
Now, the county will spend $500,000 to pay outside lawyers and additional staff to deal with lawsuits and the challenging process of assessing data centers for tax purposes.
During its meeting Nov. 19, the Prince William Board of County Supervisors voted 6-2 to approve nearly $500,000 to help address litigation costs and hire additional staff for data center-related lawsuits. Supervisors Yesli Vega, of the Coles District, and Bob Weir, of the Gainesville District, opposed the measure.
Data centers account for more than 25% of the commercial real estate base in the county and are the single fastest-growing component of real estate tax revenue.
Still, Vega and Supervisor Tom Gordy, of the Brentsville District, voiced concerns about the financial impact data centers have on tax revenue.
“These data centers come in and promote the value of data centers to our community in the amount of taxes that we’ll gain, and then they sit there and fight the amount of money they’re supposed to pay in taxes,” Gordy said.
As a result of the vote, the county will use $184,007 to add two full-time positions for commercial real estate appraisers in the finance department, while about $300,000 will be allocated to the county attorney’s office to pay outside lawyers to defend the county against data center companies who appeal their tax bills.
Weir said he opposed hiring outside lawyers or new county employees midyear. “The county should be able to take care of its own tax house,” he said.
However, Supervisor Victor Angry, of the Neabsco District, said the county needs help with dealing with complex data center valuations and appeals.
“If we don’t have the talent to deal with data centers, we need to hire that talent,” Angry said.
Several lawsuits have been filed by data center operators against the county, alleging erroneous assessment. Microsoft is suing the county over i2019 and 2020 assessments of two data center properties, while Amazon is challenging the 2020 assessment of one of its data center properties.
Some property owners in the Digital Gateway corridor are also challenging their property tax assessments in court.
Prince William County Attorney Michelle Robl also emphasized the need for the new positions, saying it’s essential to have experts on the county staff.
“If you’re familiar with lawsuits, especially on real estate assessments, you’re going to have to have an expert to sit on the witness stand to defend the assessment done by the finance department,” Robl said.
Reach Evelyn Mejia at emejia@fauquier.com
Source: https://www.princewilliamtimes.com/news/county-will-spend-nearly-500-000-more-to-fight-data-center-lawsuits/article_d715d418-b061-11ef-853d-6fffcb7aa800.html
