Louisiana Hands Meta a Tax Break and Power for Its Biggest Data Center

The agreement determines the employment schedules that the company must also reach to receive these tax incentives: Meta can obtain the highest exemption from property tax as long as it rents the equivalent of 300 “full -time” jobs by 2030 and 450 by 2032 and 475 by 2033 and 500 by December 31, 2034.

Louisiana agreements require more than tax subsidies for other states. According to good jobs first, nearly half of the state’s tax support for data centers does not require the creation of any new jobs. But Miller has fears that tax exemptions were not essential to lure a large company like the definition. “While everyone loves to avoid taxes, they will not hire people in Retsland [Parish] Just because they will get a tax break. “

Louisiana has already modified a tax deduction to create an exemption for data centers in 2024 to seduce Meta; In its latest repetition, she says that data centers can obtain an exemption from full sales tax to purchase equipment in the state as long as they employ 50 full -time jobs and invest at least $ 200 million by July 1, 2029. A separate contract seen by WIRED confirms that this applies to the Retlerland Data Data Center, in addition to the experimental agreement.

Good jobs first say that at least 10 states have subsidies for data centers worth more than $ 100 million each, and “have suffered losses of $ 100 million per tax revenue for data centers,” according to their data. In total, these states give up more than $ 3 billion in tax centers annually. Texas reviewed the cost of supporting its data center in 2025 from 130 million dollars to one billion dollars. In 2024, a stopping in support of the data center in Georgia was approved, but it caused veto against Governor Brian Kemp.

Franklin Farms has been purchased in Holly Ridge, the Rachelland area, where the Meta Data Data Center is built by Louisiana specifically for economic development projects. In the ground rental contract with Meta, Louisiana offered a plot of 1400 acres for the company for $ 12 million, which the lease contract says the cost of obtaining and maintaining the land. The rental contract also says that the “rent”, which costs $ 732,000 per year, is “credit towards the basic purchase”, which means that the company will pay for the property slightly over 16 years in the lease contract for 30 years.

The potential selling price will be slightly higher if Meta does not reach the minimum recreation and investment thresholds: for example, the lease contract says if Meta spends only $ 4 billion in the state instead of $ 5 billion, the property will cost him $ 19 million. Louisiana maintains economic development the right to restore the property if Meta does not invest at least $ 3.75 billion and employ 225 “full -time” jobs by 2028. When asked whether Meta was planning to buy the property, Clayton said, “We will keep you up to update our future plans for this site.”

The presence of Meta has already caused the jumping values ​​of land. A series close to 4000 acres of land is sold in Holly Ridge for $ 160 million, or $ 40,000 per acre – over 4.5 times the price that Louisiana paid to the data center site.

But there is also concern that Meta can delay or give up the data center project. The experimental agreement that a company affiliated with the state says that the company’s timetable depends on “many factors outside the control of the tenant, such as directing the market, demand, competition and the availability of qualified workers to create and/or weather conditions.”

“My fear of general is that many data centers are built,” says Miller. “This means that some data centers will be abandoned by the owners.”

It says in the scenario that Big Tech cut investments in data centers, Meta will not be able to find another buyer. “Basically, the country will be suspended with this warehouse full of computers,” says Miller.

Update: 9/22/2025, 12:50 pm EST time: WAID explained the sub -card to reflect how critics realize the data center.