Energy and environmental concerns are inevitably the first issues discussed whenever there are talks of making yet another datacenter. Subsidies, though, often don't undergo the same scrutiny, like when a JPMorgan datacenter expansion got a cool $77 million tax break against promising to create just one (1) permanent job, reportedly making it the largest subsidy-to-jobs ratio in the country.
The New York Focus (NYF) brought up the story, which started back to 2024. JPMorgan wanted to expand its existing installation in Orangeburn, close to New Jersey, reportedly investing around $1 billion. The $77 million in breaks would cover close to 8% of its cost, and came in the form of sales tax breaks, particularly valuable for this type of project where the initial outlay involves purchasing a lot of material and equipment.
According to NYF, $40 million would benefit the state directly, and the remaining would go to localities. The pre-buildout datacenter project already took advantage of $35 million in tax benefits, as well, and purportedly has just 25 permanent on-site jobs.
One would think that this sort of money play would elicit vicious opposition, but that doesn't seem to be case. While strong protests against datacenters mount across many other locations, few people seem to be attending Industrial Development Agency (IDA) meetings where these deals are discussed, in an open forum available to most anyone.
The NYF reports that the Rockland County IDA considers that the deal will pay off, projecting that it would be a net gain with $100 million infused into the local economy. The IDA's executive director, Steve Porath, acknowledges that there are few permanent jobs, but claims the buildout itself would create 1,400 temporary jobs.
Porath understands the deal seems absurd when described as "one job for $77 million," but refers to that metric as outdated, and that the total economic impact should be evaluated. He reportedly remarks that he wishes that more people would show up to the IDA meetings, too, and notes the JPMorgan buildout site was otherwise laden with asbestos.
Orangeburg appears to be quite the datacenter hub, as it has 10 projects across four locations. Some of them actually saw some opposition, as was the case with Databank's location that is exceedingly close to a drinking water reservoir. While many of these datacenter installations are undoubtedly beneficial, it's not hard to say they should undergo closer scrutiny of all angles, including the financial aspect.
