Niagara County Legislature Seeks Audit of Data Center Tax Break Costing Millions

1 articles · Updated · Niagara Gazette · Aug 6

Niagara County lawmakers unanimously passed a resolution Tuesday urging Gov. Kathy Hochul to order an immediate, independent audit of the Internet Data Center Sales Tax Exemption.
The legislature said the decades-old exemption may be wrongly claimed by internet data centers, including Lake Mariner in the Town of Somerset, draining millions of dollars from state and local tax revenue.
The request targets the state Department of Taxation and Finance, which lawmakers want to conduct a comprehensive review of how the exemption is being used.
The move raises pressure on Albany to scrutinize a long-standing tax incentive that county officials argue may no longer be applied as intended.