Chesterfield County board tables vote on using data center revenue to cut car tax nearly in half

CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. — The Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors deferred a vote Wednesday night on a proposed county code amendment that would have directed data center tax revenue toward reducing the car tax by nearly half.

The decision came after a nearly six hour long board meeting that touched on transparency, county priorities, and whether residents are getting what they were promised when data centers were approved in the county.

Google currently has three approved data center campuses in Chesterfield County. The tech giant is proposing revenue of $300 to $500 million per building. County leaders say that level of revenue would reduce the $3.25 car tax rate to about $1.79.

As an example of the potential impact, the reduction could lower a tax bill for a new $48,000 car by $400 in the first year.

Before board members debated and ultimately decided to table the vote, several residents addressed the board.

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"That's $68 is what I paid this year because I drive old cars. So you don't help me out much," Jenny Castle, a county resident, said.

Another resident also pushed back on the proposal.

"I don't think the citizens really want to see this tax go directly to the car tax," the resident said.

Some board members expressed support for directing the revenue toward the car tax.

"I drive a very fairly old car that's you know 11 years old at this point, and I'm scared to buy another car because I'm not going to be able to afford the car tax," Board of Supervisors Chair Mark Miller said.

"But up until now, I've never met anybody who said I don't mind paying my personal property tax bill," Vice Chair Kevin Carroll said.

Others said they want to explore different options for how the revenue could be used.

"I'm just simply saying that I just think that there's a lot of better ways that would cover things that we should be paying for or making available as resources in the county, and is reducing a personal property tax the best way to do that?" board member Jessica Schnieder said.

At the end of the meeting, board members deferred the vote. All agreed they needed more time to hold meetings with residents in order to find out what the majority wants the data center revenue to go toward.

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