North Carolina lawmakers are expected to send Democratic Gov. Josh Stein a $34 billion budget deal Thursday that would eliminate one tax break for data centers, but leave in place at least two others.
The budget measure falls short of Stein’s request last month to phase out all tax exemptions for large data centers by 2032 — a move designed to restore millions if not billions of dollars to the state budget.
The data center industry had warned previously that eliminating the tax exemptions sends the message that North Carolina is “closed for business.”
The one tax incentive targeted by the budget deal — which gives data centers a tax break on their electricity bills — alone could save North Carolina an annual $20 million, according to estimates by the state’s Commerce Department.
