Discussion and action to adopt as a general policy direction of the City of El Paso that future development of hyperscale data centers should not be actively recruited, pursued, or incentivized due to their misalignment with the City’s long-term sustainability and infrastructure resilience goals; that hyperscale data centers shall not be considered for tax abatements, rebates, permit fee waivers,

Staff Report & Agenda Item Details

Discussion and action to adopt as a general policy direction of the City of El Paso that future development of hyperscale data centers should not be actively recruited, pursued, or incentivized due to their misalignment with the City’s long-term sustainability and infrastructure resilience goals; that hyperscale data centers shall not be considered for tax abatements, rebates, permit fee waivers, public financing assistance, economic development grants, or similar economic development tools; and that the policy directions effectuated by this action remain in effect until and unless reversed by the City Council. Further, directing the City Manager to continue the ongoing process for the development of a future-focused Data Center Policy Framework for consideration by the City Council.

This motion is scored as EXPANDS_GOVERNMENT (Impact Weight: 8.6/10). Under the Bastiat Liberty Watchdog Index, measures that increase tax rates or fee schedules, issue new debt or Certificates of Obligation, expand regulatory/zoning restrictions on private land use, or authorize unbudgeted spending expansions reduce an official's Freedom Score when voted YES (and reward dissenting NO votes).