FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — Fulton County is going after data centers with tax assessments.
Those companies may not yet know they’re on the hook for tens of millions more, money the county wants to use for seniors, the jail and other programs.
Channel 2 investigative reporter Sophia Choi learned the county could end up spending tax dollars to get that money.
Fulton County is becoming a major hub, for data centers. The three already built were assessed at around a hundred million.
On Thursday, the Fulton County Board of Assessors upped the value to $5 billion.
“That could mean about $87 million in new revenue,” said Robb Pitts, Fulton County Commission chairman.
Of that money, 50% will go to schools. Atlanta and Fulton County will split the other 50%.
Fulton County says it plans to spend the money on seniors, the jail and mental health programs.
“You know, up to 40-70% of the folks in jail have mental illnesses or substance abuse issues,” said Lee Morris, Fulton Board of Assessors chair.
County leaders say they took action after homeowners complained about shouldering more than their share of the tax burden, with data centers not putting in enough.
Those centers will get the notice about these new assessments on June 16.
Fulton County says it’s sure those data centers will appeal, so it’s going to spend some money to get that money.
“We will be hiring the best of the best in terms of outside legal counsel to help us fight the high-priced lawyers these developers, these data center developers are going to bring on,” Pitts said.
“We’re pretty confident about these values. So hopefully even if it isn’t quite $5 billion, if it’s only 4.9 billion, that’s still great for the taxpayers,” Morris said.
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