OT: Madison data center tax fight

[horshack.sixpack]

I'm still floored that all these big companies might not have actually just fallen in love with MS and could perhaps be trying to take advantage of us on all fronts. We might not even get a kiss...please don't tell Tate...

https://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2026/08/aws-clashes-with-madison-county-over.html

 

[Darryl Steight]

I'm still floored that all these big companies might not have actually just fallen in love with MS and could perhaps be trying to take advantage of us on all fronts. We might not even get a kiss...please don't tell Tate...

https://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2026/08/aws-clashes-with-madison-county-over.html

This could be one of those situations where the county supervisors win the battle and lose the war. Greed can kill anything good.

 

[FormerBully]

Look at the way Amazon treats their employees. I wouldn't want to be in bed with them.

 

[thatsbaseball]

This could be one of those situations where the county supervisors win the battle and lose the war. Greed can kill anything good.

This war you speak of . The war for the county or the war for themselves personally ? **

 

[horshack.sixpack]

This could be one of those situations where the county supervisors win the battle and lose the war. Greed can kill anything good.

I'm about as likely to trust our supervisors as I am to trust Amazon, or their motives. Being old and cynical is great. I can not like all of them.

 

[BoDawg.sixpack]

AWS could/should provide construction cost quotes under a non-disclosure agreement which would verify who is stretching their numbers and by how much. AWS doesn't want this to go to court. Madison County would have the upper hand there.

Both sides will probably agree on a repeatable valuation methodology for future AWS buildings, which may actually be more important than fighting over these first five, bc if Madison County eventually has 10+ AWS buildings, neither side wants to litigate the valuation of every building every year.

If Madison County gets anywhere close to 1000 dollars the tax windfall will be enormous. I.think they can get close to that.

 

[OG Goat Holder]

How the heck was this not agreed upon before any of this happens? Is this Cannaday guy new and trying to throw his weight around before somebody advised him?

 

[BoDawg.sixpack]

How the heck was this not agreed upon before any of this happens? Is this Cannaday guy new and trying to throw his weight around before somebody advised him?

He's not new. Data centers can be extraordinarily hard to value. It's not surprising there's a disagreement here. But there's a gulf between the two assessments.

Cannady

 

[GloryDawg]

I hope the Data Center wins. My house is overvalued when it comes to tax. All counties do that bull ****. The house is appraised at 350K, but the county values it at 400K to get more money. The data center has the money to fight it and maybe the homeowners of Madison County can piggyback that fight.

 

[Shmuley]

I hope the Data Center wins. My house is overvalued when it comes to tax. All counties do that bull ****. The house is appraised at 350K, but the county values it at 400K to get more money. The data center has the money to fight it and maybe the homeowners of Madison County can piggyback that fight.

You realize, do you not, that, if you have a current appraisal on your homestead that shows a $50,000 market value discrepancy that is in your favor, all you have to do is take that appraisal report to your tax assessor and sit down and discuss with them a modification to your ad valorem assessment? It's literally that simple. I have yet to see one instance where a property owner with a legitimate appraisal report is turned down on a request for modification. Not once.

I have seen, however, hundreds of examples of property owners being unwilling to present their tax assessor with a legitimate appraisal report (which is exactly what Amazon is doing). Most property owners are unwilling to show the tax assessor their appraisal report since, if they did, their argument with the tax assessor's assessed value goes out the window.

 

[ZombieKissinger]

You realize, do you not, that, if you have a current appraisal on your homestead that shows a $50,000 market value discrepancy that is in your favor, all you have to do is take that appraisal report to your tax assessor and sit down and discuss with them a modification to your ad valorem assessment? It's literally that simple. I have yet to see one instance where a property owner with a legitimate appraisal report is turned down on a request for modification. Not once.

I have seen, however, hundreds of examples of property owners being unwilling to present their tax assessor with a legitimate appraisal report (which is exactly what Amazon is doing). Most property owners are unwilling to show the tax assessor their appraisal report since, if they did, their argument with the tax assessor's assessed value goes out the window.

I was turned down. I presented the appraisal from a month before, and they rejected it and kept their own assessment. They said I could fight it in court, and it was a few hundred a year, so I accepted the rejection.

 

[johnson86-1]

I hope the Data Center wins. My house is overvalued when it comes to tax. All counties do that bull ****. The house is appraised at 350K, but the county values it at 400K to get more money. The data center has the money to fight it and maybe the homeowners of Madison County can piggyback that fight.

Our county appraisers seem to take the opposite approach. Undervalue basically all the houses compared to market, so if you point out you’re getting screwed compared to some nearby neighbors, they ultimately have the hammer of market value. They’ve been reasonable when I have dealt with them. I think it’s mainly to just have the upper hand if you push too hard and also it’s better politics to undervalue homes and fairly value commercial and industrial, and it also makes it easier for them to do favors without getting called on it because at the end of the day, anybody that makes too big of a stink is going to end up with a higher evaluation that can be justified by the market, if not compared to valuations of nearby properties.

 

[00Dawg]

I was turned down. I presented the appraisal from a month before, and they rejected it and kept their own assessment. They said I could fight it in court, and it was a few hundred a year, so I accepted the rejection.

Ouch. I've only fought mine once; in year one. I walked in with the receipts of construction costs and stated I could have another built on the neighboring lot for the same price.
That set their valuation back so much it was years before it really caught up, and I'm sure it helped that was 2009. It's probably a little high at the moment, but not enough to put in effort.

 

[Darryl Steight]

This war you speak of . The war for the county or the war for themselves personally ? **

I'm saying, the supervisors could win this battle for more money this time, but piss off the golden goose enough so that the growth that they crave so much in that business park could stall out. If you were AWS, and you feel like they are squeezing you for more tax money already, during this honeymoon phase... why would you keep building in this county?

They've already established a site in Hinds County, for example. They could just as easily start adding buildings there instead of continuing with plans in Madison County. The supervisors could win this short term battle on the first 5 buildings, but then get no more long term, which they desperately want.

 

[patdog]

I hope the Data Center wins. My house is overvalued when it comes to tax. All counties do that bull ****. The house is appraised at 350K, but the county values it at 400K to get more money. The data center has the money to fight it and maybe the homeowners of Madison County can piggyback that fight.

You better hope the county wins then. Cause if they can't get the tax money from AWS, they'll get it from the rest of us. If your house appraises at $350,000 you can protest your assessed valuation. You are getting screwed. My house appraises at $300,000 and its assessed value is $186,100.

 

[Shmuley]

I was turned down. I presented the appraisal from a month before, and they rejected it and kept their own assessment. They said I could fight it in court, and it was a few hundred a year, so I accepted the rejection.

That's an elected tax assessor who needs an opponent, then. No excuse for that $h!+ (unless there was something structurally wrong with your appraisal or you used an appraiser who has a $#!+ reputation).

 

[thatsbaseball]

I'm saying, the supervisors could win this battle for more money this time, but piss off the golden goose enough so that the growth that they crave so much in that business park could stall out. If you were AWS, and you feel like they are squeezing you for more tax money already, during this honeymoon phase... why would you keep building in this county?

They've already established a site in Hinds County, for example. They could just as easily start adding buildings there instead of continuing with plans in Madison County. The supervisors could win this short term battle on the first 5 buildings, but then get no more long term, which they desperately want.

And I'm saying I don't trust our "supervisors" to make decisions that are made strictly in the best interest of the county . I'm starting to wonder if the State (Tater) promised some concessions to AWS that had to actually be made at the county level .

 

[tbaydog]

I hope the Data Center wins. My house is overvalued when it comes to tax. All counties do that bull ****. The house is appraised at 350K, but the county values it at 400K to get more money. The data center has the money to fight it and maybe the homeowners of Madison County can piggyback that fight.

I like the way you think..........

 

[mstateglfr]

I hope the Data Center wins.

Well this isn't something you hear very often in 2026.


Hoping a global cloud storage company gets to pay really low property taxes because you feel your house is assessed too high is...something.

 

[goindhoo]

I can see AWS side....cost of construction does not equal market value. Surely the BOS can comprehend that. It will probably litigate and settle in between. However, they are starting miles apart.

 

[ZombieKissinger]

That's an elected tax assessor who needs an opponent, then. No excuse for that $h!+ (unless there was something structurally wrong with your appraisal or you used an appraiser who has a $#!+ reputation).

It came right when I bought the place. I think the appraisal was all pretty correct/normal but not an expert in these things. I bought the place $10k lower than the appraisal, and the tax came at $10k higher than the appraisal. My house in WA state was always $50k or so below appraisal value, but this one was in NC

 

[johnson86-1]

AWS could/should provide construction cost quotes under a non-disclosure agreement which would verify who is stretching their numbers and by how much. AWS doesn't want this to go to court. Madison County would have the upper hand there.

Both sides will probably agree on a repeatable valuation methodology for future AWS buildings, which may actually be more important than fighting over these first five, bc if Madison County eventually has 10+ AWS buildings, neither side wants to litigate the valuation of every building every year.

If Madison County gets anywhere close to 1000 dollars the tax windfall will be enormous. I.think they can get close to that.

I know nothing about the construction of the buildings, but if they are just talking about the buildings and not the racks and actual equipment, $1,000 a sq ft seems pretty pricy. I would certainly expect it to be more valuable per sq ft than typical warehouse space, but not an order of magnitude more.

 

[mstateglfr]

As data points to provide some general context here, below is info for a few Microsoft data centers near me...
- 415,000 sqft on 40 acres and assessed at $94.5MM. $1.6MM in property tax paid for Project Mountain.
- 1,166,000 sqft on 154 acres and assessed at over $307MM(this is the min). $8.1MM in property tax paid for Alluvion.
- 1,700,000 sqft on 200 acres and assessed at over $318MM(this is the min). $11.3MM in property tax paid for Osmium.

So these data centers are assessed at $227/sqft, $263/sqft, and $187/sqft.
In my state, business personal property like servers, IT equipment, etc is exempt when it comes to property tax assessment.



Madison is arguing the AWS property should be $1362/sqft.
AWS is arguing the property should be $62/sqft.


Perhaps both parties are taking extreme positions and the assessed value should be somewhere in the middle of this absurdly wide disagreement.

 

[grinningmule]

 

[patdog]

As data points to provide some general context here, below is info for a few Microsoft data centers near me...
- 415,000 sqft on 40 acres and valued at $94.5MM. $1.6MM in property tax paid for Project Mountain.
- 1,166,000 sqft on 154 acres and valued at over $307MM(this is the min). $8.1MM in property tax paid for Alluvion.
- 1,700,000 sqft on 200 acres and valued at over $318MM(this is the min). $11.3MM in property tax paid for Osmium.

So these data centers are valued at $227/sqft, $263/sqft, and $187/sqft.
In my state, business personal property like servers, IT equipment, etc is exempt when it comes to property tax assessment.



Madison is arguing the AWS property should be $1362/sqft.
AWS is arguing the property should be $62/sqft.

Personal property is assessed and taxed in Mississippi.

 

[mstateglfr]

Personal property is assessed and taxed in Mississippi.

Ooh, interesting. Well if that were the case where I live, it would push up those assessments BIGLY.
Damn, our streets would be paved in gold if all our data centers had to pay assessed value on the equipment too!

 

[GloryDawg]

Well this isn't something you hear very often in 2026.


Hoping a global cloud storage company gets to pay really low property taxes because you feel your house is assessed too high is...something.

If the county is over valuing your property to fleece you and this could change that then yes.

 

[OG Goat Holder]

I can see AWS side....cost of construction does not equal market value. Surely the BOS can comprehend that. It will probably litigate and settle in between. However, they are starting miles apart.

Again, I just fail to see how this wasn't worked out before, considering all the negotiations and courting that went on to get them there.

 

[dorndawg]

Again, I just fail to see how this wasn't worked out before, considering all the negotiations and courting that went on to get them there.

My guess is they thought it *was* worked out. Then citizens started paying attention and asking questions.

 

[mstateglfr]

If the county is over valuing your property to fleece you and this could change that then yes.

Could this change your property assessment though? You appealing it is what would change it.
Like the county isnt just going to slash everyone else's assessments if AWS wins and is allowed to have their property assessed at pennies of what it should be.

Maybe I am mistaken and assessment appeal is different in MS.

 

[johnson86-1]

Ooh, interesting. Well if that were the case where I live, it would push up those assessments BIGLY.
Damn, our streets would be paved in gold if all our data centers had to pay assessed value on the equipment too!

It is a separate assessment though. This could be really bad reporting, but it looks like they are trying to assess the improvements to the real property at $1,300 per sq ft.

AWS would then also be subject to an assessment on the assets other than real property and improvements thereon.

 

[thatsbaseball]

Again, I just fail to see how this wasn't worked out before, considering all the negotiations and courting that went on to get them there.

Getting a sneaky feeling the State made some promises the county wasn't aware of .

 

[patdog]

It is a separate assessment though. This could be really bad reporting, but it looks like they are trying to assess the improvements to the real property at $1,300 per sq ft.

AWS would then also be subject to an assessment on the assets other than real property and improvements thereon.

You are correct. And yes the AWS assessment seems more reasonable.

 

[She Mate Me]

It is a separate assessment though. This could be really bad reporting, but it looks like they are trying to assess the improvements to the real property at $1,300 per sq ft.

AWS would then also be subject to an assessment on the assets other than real property and improvements thereon.

If the local assessor or their consultants are puttng that kind of value on just the real property, then I completely agree that Amazon should be fighting it.

This seems like something a state economic development entity should be all up in the middle of to keep it from being a public pissing match.

Also, a competent local assessor would be reaching out to other assessors in other places to figure out how to handle these questions before they get this public.

 

[soccerdad]

$362 a ft on prefab concrete buildings seems in the ballpark to me. Just stand up walls metal roofs no real things inside just a shell. Remember the dirt, water, sewer doesn't count. Their taxes don't effect your house taxes. Ridgeland city taxes are about 30% less than Madison all because Ridgeland had NorthPark and county line taxes and they are a smaller town. It will be resolved somewhere in the middle just like St. Catherine's was when they tried to claim the whole facility was a church. 60% of the tax goes to schools, you can't waive that.

 

[She Mate Me]

FWIW,

The 14 states in dark blue are the only ones who don’t assess tangible personal property (equipment, machinery etc) taxes on businesses.



Most are in proximity to one another. I’d be interested to know why?

 

[Darryl Steight]

if the State (Tater) promised some concessions to AWS that had to actually be made at the county level .

I see why you might think that, but the truth is the county (through MCEDA) was instrumental in bringing AWS here, and they were in on the negotiations throughout the whole process. The county stands to gain the most from the AWS locating there, because they get the ad valorem taxes, and would have had to sign off on any rebates/abatements/incentives that were promised. The state gets some benefit, related to some sales tax revenue and job creation.

I'm assuming the millage rate or whatever the issue is in discussion, was simply not discussed or agreed to during those negotiations. Seems like a huge miss on AWS' attorney's part if that's the case. So was it also a miss by the county not to address it, or was it an intentional tag left hanging, knowing they could come back now and put the squeeze on AWS? That's the unknown here to me. Either way, it's kind of a bad look for the board to be doing this after the fact.

 

[johnson86-1]

If the local assessor or their consultants are puttng that kind of value on just the real property, then I completely agree that Amazon should be fighting it.

This seems like something a state economic development entity should be all up in the middle of to keep it from being a public pissing match.

Also, a competent local assessor would be reaching out to other assessors in other places to figure out how to handle these questions before they get this public.

If it is as bad as it looks, I suspect MDA will be giving Madison the message that if they hold to their current position, they will no longer get help for anything going forward if this is the way they treat prospects after they are committed.

Hopefully it's not as bad as it looks and there is something else going on that makes the county's position defensible. I don't really understand how all of this isn't under a fee in lieu though. Or maybe it is and the county is jacksing up the assessment by 4x because they don't like the fee in lieu now and that gives them room to come down some in a "compromise" and basically collect what's they'd collect with no fee in lieu.

Maybe the county was always counting on collecting ad valorem on 1/3 of the money spent rather than the actual value, and they feel like they wouldn't have done the fee in lieu if they had known what the assessed value would be.

 

[mstateglfr]

Most are in proximity to one another. I’d be interested to know why?

 

[ZombieKissinger]

Ooh, interesting. Well if that were the case where I live, it would push up those assessments BIGLY.
Damn, our streets would be paved in gold if all our data centers had to pay assessed value on the equipment too!

This is especially relevant in Madison because the servers are made of brick