SUNBURY — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced on May 27 that the state will pause consideration of new data center tax exemption requests while lawmakers study the rapid growth of data centers across Ohio.
The announcement comes amid growing scrutiny over the true cost of Ohio’s data center tax incentives. Recent reporting from Signal Statewide found the state’s sales tax exemption for data centers cost Ohio roughly $1.6 billion in 2025 — 11 times higher than earlier projections.
The Ohio Tax Credit Authority will stop accepting new data center tax exemption proposals after its currently scheduled meeting on Monday, where an existing data center tax exemption request will be considered.
“As this work is ongoing, I believe it is appropriate for the Ohio Tax Credit Authority to pause its consideration of new data center tax exemptions while the full impact of data center growth in Ohio is being reviewed,” DeWine said.
This action only suspends the ability for data centers to request tax exemptions in Ohio; it is not a data center ban.
Is there a local impact to this decision?
The tax exemption pause comes as Sunbury officials continue evaluating a proposed Amazon data center that has generated ongoing debate over taxes, infrastructure, public transparency and long-term community impacts in Delaware County.
However, Sunbury City Administrator Daryl Hennessy said the paused state exemption is separate from the local tax incentives previously approved by Sunbury City Council for the proposed Amazon project.
“The sales tax exemption [DeWine] referenced is a state incentive,” Hennessy said. “That’s not part of the local incentive in any way. It’s not something the city has offered or has any control over.”
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Instead, Hennessy said Sunbury’s proposed incentives involve a Community Reinvestment Area (CRA) property tax abatement, approved by council in late 2024.
Documents recently released by the city show the proposed agreement would exempt Amazon from 87.5% of property taxes for the first 15 years of the project and 75% for the following 15 years.
The CRA agreement tied to the proposed Amazon project estimates a capital investment of approximately $2 billion.
Hennessy said the non-exempt portion of the property taxes — about 12.5% — would be paid normally and distributed among the various taxing authorities that would ordinarily receive property tax revenue.
City documents also include compensation agreements involving Big Walnut Local Schools and the Delaware Area Career Center, as well as projected payment-in-lieu-of-tax (PILOT) revenues tied to the proposed incentive structure.
Financial projections released by the city estimate millions of dollars in future PILOT payments, even despite the proposed property tax exemptions.
Nothing set in stone
Hennessy emphasized the city’s incentive package is not yet finalized.
“It is still contingent upon the execution of the development agreement, which has not been executed, and that would spell out the responsibility for paying for public infrastructure,” he said.
Additionally, Sunbury itself temporarily paused advancement of the proposed data center project earlier this year through a local moratorium intended to allow city officials time to study the broader impacts of data center development.
“The moratorium says we’re not going to continue toward the advancement of the development of the data center and take the time to study the impact of data centers on communities — ours specifically,” Hennessy said.
“We will make recommendations on what changes we should consider, and this gives us a chance to study data centers and understand environmental, health and economic impacts before moving forward.”
