Canton and Madison County schools anticipate millions of dollars from Amazon data center fees
By Devna Bose | Originally published by Mississippi Today
CANTON — Fees from new data centers in Madison County could generate millions of dollars for area public schools starting in January.
Canton and Madison County schools officials say they plan to earmark the money for building improvements and investing in career and technical education. County leaders say the money could be “transformational,” allowing the schools to update their campuses, attract quality educators and offer innovative courses to students.
That transformation is happening amid concerns about traffic and pollution around the data centers, and their water and energy use.
Amazon aims to build 34 data centers in Madison County over the next two years, said Joey Deason, executive director of the Madison County Economic Development Authority. Five are operating and another five are expected to go online this year. The $25 billion project is the biggest capital investment in the state’s history.
To incentivize Amazon to bring the project to Mississippi, state leaders and county officials worked out a deal for the company to pay discounted fees — a third of what they’d typically owe in property taxes — for the first 10 years of each data centers’ operations over a 30-year term.
Starting in January, Amazon will start paying fees for the first five centers, which are located in Canton. Half of the money — about $14 million — would go toward paying off a loan the county took out to improve infrastructure around the data center project. The other half would be split between community colleges, the city of Ridgeland, Madison County and the county’s public schools.
And as more data centers crop up around the country and in Mississippi, additional school districts could receive more money from fees data center owners have to pay.
The county tax collector will give Amazon’s fees to the county board of supervisors, who will then give Canton Public School District its share. The district is projected to receive over $7 million in a lump sum during the first quarter of 2027. The annual payments steadily increase to $17 million in 2029.
Once the fee agreement ends, Amazon will pay full property taxes for each of their data centers. By 2038, Canton schools could receive upwards of $35 million annually. That’s about half of the district’s budget for the current school year.
Similarly, Madison County Schools is projected to receive a $7 million annual payment during the first quarter of 2028. The district is getting its share a year later because the Ridgeland data centers began operating a year after Canton’s. The district’s allotment could go up to an annual $33 million payment by 2039. For context, Madison County school district officials approved a $204 million budget this year.
“These schools have got an opportunity that they’ve never had before to think outside of the box,” Deason said.
The amount of money the school districts will receive is not yet certain. Amazon Web Services recently challenged the Madison County tax assessor’s valuation of its five data centers in Canton claiming that the county’s assessment is too high, which could result in millions of dollars less for county government and schools. The tax assessor valued each data center at $292 million, but Amazon said each building is only worth $69 million. The Madison County Board of Aldermen upheld the tax assessor’s valuation, but the company could appeal the decision to the courts and could challenge the valuation again in coming years.
Investing in CTE, teachers, buildings
Austin Brown, Madison County Schools’ new superintendent as of July 1, saw the projections for how much money the data centers would bring into his district on his first day.
“I said, ‘I think I’m gonna retire,’” he recalled. “My day couldn’t get any better, you know? What a blessing.”
Brown said he can’t make promises about how the district will spend the money, but he knows where he’d like to start.
District leadership is interested in increasing teacher salaries. The state is facing a teacher shortage, and increasing the district’s local supplement could help Madison County Schools stay competitive, Brown said.
Schools in other states have used money from local data centers to boost teacher pay.
Madison County Schools is also renovating several buildings. Brown said he’d like to use the money to continue those efforts.
“What you’re seeing is basically the first phase of dedicated, intentional upgrades of our facilities,” he said.
A substantial amount of the money could go toward a new career and technical education building.
“Ultimately, we are going to use it in a way that will provide the right kind of experiences for our students to prepare them for what’s next,” Brown said. “There are no limitations on what we can do.”
Read more of Mississippi Today’s reporting on data centers
Canton’s interim superintendent, Dwight Luckett, has similar plans. Luckett, despite his temporary position, has created a five-year strategic plan that hints at his priorities for the money: Recruiting highly trained teachers, boosting student achievement, focusing on career and technical education and providing students with state-of-the-art facilities.
He said the district’s central office, for example, is at least 80 years old and needs to be upgraded. Luckett also said district leaders might consider raising teacher pay the next school year and paying off debts they’ve accumulated.
“Those dollars will definitely, first and foremost, be used in the classroom,” he said. Luckett previously served as the district’s superintendent from 2006 until 2014. “There is also a tremendous need for some capital improvements.”
Luckett said he’d also like to see the dollars go toward creating classes focused on science, technology, engineering and math — or STEM.
His interest in career and technical education is in line with a push from the Mississippi Department of Education and state lawmakers to better prepare students for the workforce and bolster the state’s economy.
“I’d like to see … additional teachers,” Luckett said. “So putting money around those that can come in and really help get us our own program … That’s really good for workforce development.”
Data center tradeoffs
Sen. Bradford Blackmon, a Democrat from Canton, said the infusion of money could be impactful to a district like Canton.
He’s also met with Canton residents who complain about traffic, dust and pollution from the data center site. He knows there are trade-offs.
“You just have to take the good with the bad because it’s there,” he said. “It’s not going anywhere at the moment or anytime soon.”
Deason said construction at the site stirs up dust. The construction will eventually end, but meanwhile, Amazon and the Madison County Economic Development Authority offered to pay for car washes, humidifiers and house cleaners, Deason said.
“This is a part of growing, a part of getting bigger,” Deason said. “It is what it is.”
Blackmon hopes that despite residents’ concerns, the money could help Canton schools retain teachers, attract talent and offer more to their students.
“School districts drive communities,” he said. “If the district is good, people would think about making this their home. This type of money is transformational for Canton.”
This article was originally published by Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Source: Original Article
