Facebook Faces Taxing Problem In Prineville

Data Center Knowledge (Jan 23 2012) Power and Cooling

1. Does this story sound familiar? A Pacific Northwest state with affordable power and an ideal climate for free cooling attracts a cluster of data center projects. Then a large data center provider is told it may face a large, unanticipated tax bill due to an interpretation of state law. Legislators spring into action to draft bills to address the issue and maintain the state’s attractiveness as a data center destination? No, it’s not Washington state, where this scenario played out in 2007-11. It’s neighboring Oregon, where a dispute with the state on property taxes affecting Facebook’s Prineville data center leaves the Oregon Department of Revenue searching for a fix. The Statesman Journal reports that the problem stems from how state officials originally defined Facebook as a company. The tax issues began in August 2011 and in October tax authorities told the Bend Bulletin newspaper that Facebook ... (Read Full Article)

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