Wisconsin Residents Demand End to Data Center Tax Exemptions

Residents gathered in River Falls to demand an end to Wisconsin’s state sales-and-use-tax exemption for qualified data centers and for greater transparency in hyperscale data center projects. The exemption was established through 2023 Wisconsin Act 19, which was co-authored by Shannon Zimmerman. The Legislative Fiscal Bureau has estimated that over $2 billion in tax incentives have been provided to corporations building data centers in Wisconsin communities.

The tax exemption was originally created to benefit large technology companies like Microsoft and Meta. Public pressure challenges the state's incentive policy, which has been used to attract major data center investments. The debate centers on whether corporate decisions regarding public money and resources should be shaped by wealthy corporations or by local residents.