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Mount Pleasant data center: Village gets $5M back from Microsoft
Just under $5 million is going back to the Village of Mount Pleasant. This is after Microsoft waived its development incentive for its Mount Pleasant data center.
MOUNT PLEASANT, Wis. - Just under $5 million is going back to the Village of Mount Pleasant. This is after Microsoft waived its development incentive for its Mount Pleasant data center.
$5 million incentive waived
What To Know:
Three years ago, Microsoft announced plans to build its data center in Mount Pleasant. A lot of construction later, and with $20 billion invested into these data centers, Microsoft is deciding to waive its development incentive. This means nearly $5 million will go back to Mount Pleasant.
Mount Pleasant data center construction
Tyler Byrnes, Senior Research Associate at Wisconsin Policy Forum, said this kind of incentive return has not happened in Wisconsin before.
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What they're saying:
"It's a relatively small portion of the total investment," Byrnes said. "And if this can help understanding in the community, help prevent any negative impact to taxpayers, help Mount Pleasant make additional investments in the community, I think they're hoping to improve their standing in the community."
The village plans to use it to reduce or keep steady property taxes for residents and put toward capital projects. With the tax district the data center is in, this $4.9 million could be given to the city annually for the next 20 years.
Microsoft's decision was announced at a Village Board meeting Monday night.
Mount Pleasant data center construction
Monetary impact
Big picture view:
"When you look to the bottom line of your tax bill in December, remember that that number would have been higher if not for this funding from Microsoft," Village President David DeGroot said.
Based off 2025 tax records and U.S. Census data, the average home in Mount Pleasant could save around $35 monthly on property taxes.
"And Microsoft, every step of the way, has just been a genuine corporate citizen. They say what they're going to do, they do what they say," DeGroot said.
In a press release, the president and vice chair of Microsoft, Brad Smith, said they have, "made it clear that the community should benefit from our presence."
Mount Pleasant data center construction
Opinions on data canters
Local perspective:
According to the latest Marquette Law Poll, 71% of Wisconsinites polled say the costs of data centers outweigh their benefits.
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Byrnes said deals like this could be more common in the future.
"I think it's fair to say that the deals the community get going forward will probably be better than ones that were 5 years ago, 3 years ago, even 2 years ago," Byrnes said.
$100,000 of that $5 million incentive total will go to the Racine County Economic Development Corporation to fund countywide business attraction and economic growth initiatives.
A budget for the specifics of how Mount Pleasant will use its money will be finalized in November.
You can learn more about the state of data centers in Wisconsin by visiting the Wisconsin Policy Forum website.
Portions of this article were formatted using A.I. FOX6’s Ben Hanson and an editor reviewed it for accuracy and tone prior to publishing.
The Source: Information in this story was gathered from Tyler Byrnes, a research associate at the Wisconsin Policy Forum, 2025 tax records, U.S. Census data, a press release from Microsoft President and Vice Chair Brad Smith, the Marquette Law Poll, Racine County Economic Development Corporation and the Village of Mount Pleasant.