Case 2:21-cv-00072-JRG Document 34-10 Filed 04/27/21 Page 1 of 4 PageID #: 569
`Case 2:21-cv-00072-JRG Document 34-10 Filed 04/27/21 Page 1 of 4 PageID #: 569
`
`EXHIBIT 2
`
`EXHIBIT 2
`
`

`

`Case 2:21-cv-00072-JRG Document 34-10 Filed 04/27/21 Page 2 of 4 PageID #: 570
`
`
`
` | P E R S P E C T I V E S O N T E X A S
`
`A publication of The Texas Tribune
`
`About
`GOVERNMENT
`
`Data centers are a wise investment
`for Texas
`
`Authors
`
`Submit
`
`By Charlie Geren,  July 16, 2015
`Sponsor Content
`
`Republish
`
`Donate
`
`The Texas Tribune
`
`Close 
`
`Photo by Jennifer Whitney
`
`I passed House Bill 2712 this year to make Texas a top contender among states competing for large data center
`projects, and to bring more investment and revenue to Tarrant County and the state.
`
`As a result, Facebook has already broken ground on its fifth data center worldwide after selecting Fort Worth out
`of 220 cities that were candidates for the project. The center will bring in billions of dollars in capital investment,
`create jobs and send more revenue to state and local governments. This is exciting news for Tarrant County and
`for Texas.
`
`To lure projects like this to Texas, lawmakers this year offered a number of proposals, including one that involved
`property tax benefits. The Legislature opted against property tax incentives and instead allowed for sales tax
`exemptions on certain tangible personal property used in data centers of at least 250,000 square feet.
`
`But these incentives are merely a small investment when compared with the economic benefits these data centers
`offer locally and at the state level. To put it into perspective, the city of Fort Worth reported that it had been
`
`

`

` | P E R S P E C T I V E S O N T E X A S
`
`Case 2:21-cv-00072-JRG Document 34-10 Filed 04/27/21 Page 3 of 4 PageID #: 571
`collecting only $2,720 annually from taxes on the property where the Facebook data center will be located. Now,
`
`
`the city reports that it will collect, on average, more than $2.4 million from the new project on that same property.
`That's at least $48 million in additional tax revenue over the next 20 years, and is equivalent to the annual property
`A publication of The Texas Tribune
`taxes on more than 1,400 homes appraised at $250,000 — only this project takes up a much smaller footprint and
`doesn’t require the service demands of the thousands of residents who would accompany those homes. A project
`About
`of this size hasn’t come to Tarrant County without an incentive in the past 25 years.
`
`The sales tax exemption provided through HB 2712 does not impact the property taxes collected by the Northwest
`Authors
`Independent School District, which, with its full tax rate applied, will collect more than $150 million in property
`taxes over the next 20 years. 
`Submit
`
`Tarrant County and its hospital district have said they will also benefit significantly from the data center. Previously,
`Sponsor Content
`because of an agricultural exemption on the vacant property on which Facebook is locating, the county and the
`hospital district collected a combined $80 in property taxes annually. Now, the two entities will receive a combined
`estimated $30 million in tax revenue from the project, even while Facebook is receiving a 10-year tax abatement
`Republish
`incentive from the county and the hospital district.
`
`Donate
`The sales tax exemption on data center equipment provided by HB 2712 also makes Tarrant County and the state of
`Texas a prime destination for additional data center locations in the future. These projects are good for the area
`The Texas Tribune
`because they provide a high level of property investment and value on the tax rolls without further straining the
`roadway infrastructure along the already crowded Interstate 35W corridor.
`Close 
`Bringing Facebook to Fort Worth would not have been possible without the collective effort of local and state
`officials who created reasonable and responsible incentives to attract a project of this size. I’m confident that
`making this investment now will provide substantial benefits to Fort Worth and Tarrant County and, in the words of
`Gov. Greg Abbott, "help us build an even more robust and diverse economy here in the state of Texas."
`
`Charlie Geren
`
`State representative, R-Fort Worth
`
`@charliegeren
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
` PREVIOUS
`
`SPONSOR CONTENT:
`What we've learned about high school equivalency
`
`

`

`Case 2:21-cv-00072-JRG Document 34-10 Filed 04/27/21 Page 4 of 4 PageID #: 572
`Amy Riker, Educational Testing Service
`
`
`NEXT 
`
` | P E R S P E C T I V E S O N T E X A S
`
`A publication of The Texas Tribune
`
`The conservative case for more rail transit in Texas
`About
`William S. Lind, Director of the American Conservative Center for Public Transportation
`Authors
`
`SHARE
`
` Twitter
` Facebook
`
`Submit
`TRIBTALK
`© 2019 TribTalk
`Sponsor Content
`A publication of:
`
`Republish
`
`Donate
`
`The Texas Tribune
`
`Close 
`
`INFO
`
`About Us
`Authors
`Submit
`Sponsor Content
`Donate
`Terms of Service
`Privacy Policy
`Code of Ethics
`Contact
`RSS Feed
`
`