Amazon Web Services recently challenged Madison County’s property valuations for its data centers in Canton, and the county tax assessor’s office said the lower assessments Amazon is seeking could mean $5 million to $6 million less in tax revenue next year, down from an estimated payment of more than $28 million.
At an August meeting of the Madison County Board of Supervisors, Amazon argued that each of its five buildings is worth $69 million while the tax assessor put the value at $292 million per building, the board records show. The board upheld the assessor’s valuation, but the company could appeal the decision to Circuit Court.
Madison County officials have said Amazon plans to build 34 data centers in the county in the next few years, a development the county expects would bring in tens of millions of dollars in annual tax revenue.
Amazon representative James Polianski told the board the company’s valuation was based on industry standards. Madison County Tax Assessor Norman Cannady said the data centers are “highly specialized” and should be evaluated on their unique systems, including electrical, structural and cooling infrastructure. Cannady said Amazon used replacement cost figures and declined to share actual construction cost documents with the assessor’s office; Polianski said that policy was to avoid putting Amazon at a “competitive disadvantage.”
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
