*CORRECTION: The headline of this statement originally overstated the amount by which the cost of the tax break exceeded the state’s forecast. The cost was more than 11 times greater, not 12 times greater.
New reporting by Signal Ohio’s Jake Zuckerman reveals that Ohio’s data center sales tax exemption cost the state more than $1.5 billion in 2025, far exceeding earlier projections and confirming longstanding concerns from Policy Matters Ohio that the true cost of the subsidy has been significantly understated.
“These numbers confirm that lawmakers were working with wildly inaccurate information,” said Zach Schiller, Research Director at Policy Matters Ohio and author of the January 2025 report that first articulated concerns about the cost of the credit as data centers proliferated in Ohio. “Forecasts weren’t just off—they missed the mark by more than a billion dollars, undermining responsible policymaking and public trust.”
Promises of job creation simply do not justify this level of taxpayer-funded giveaways. It’s clear that data center development does provide meaningful employment to the construction industry, creating opportunities for expanding apprenticeships and pathways to high road jobs with good pay and strong benefits. However, Ohio is already a uniquely attractive location for data centers, and their development produces relatively few permanent jobs. Policymakers should not continue subsidizing data center development.
“This is a massive public subsidy going to some of the richest corporations on the planet,” Schiller said. “At a time when Ohio is struggling to fund schools, childcare, and many other public services, we cannot afford giveaways on this scale with so little return, and rapidly dwindling public accountability for those taxpayer dollars.” Unfortunately, with House Bill 184 approved last year, the General Assembly took a major step backward and made public records on local economic development assistance confidential. No longer can residents expect to get the basic details on what applicants for such assistance promise in jobs and investment.
“The question now is not whether this tax break is too big—it clearly is,” Schiller said. “The question is what Ohio is going to do about it. Even if the legislature reduces the subsidy by repealing Governor DeWine’s veto, as they should, that will only impact new agreements. Ohioans need legislators to also figure out how to undo some of the damage — reflected in these new numbers — by reining in incentives involved in existing agreements. The state’s new joint committee should take up this discussion immediately.”
Lame duck is an opportunity for legislators to act on data centers (and more)