As part of the proposed Amazon data center in Montgomery County a cost-benefit analysis plan was created by Gilmore & Bell, P.C., a firm that specializes in public financing arrangements.
The plan, as drafted, states that Montgomery County intends to issue taxable industrial revenue bonds in an amount not to exceed $35 billion, however Montgomery County Presiding Commissioner Ryan Poston and Greater Montgomery County Economic Development Council consultant Steve Etcher said that the $35 billion in bonds was a paper transaction to allow the county to abate taxes by the county owning the personal property of any facility that would be built on the proposed site.
“The bond is a faux transaction to create that transfer to the public sector to be leased back to the private sector,” Etcher explained. “The $35 billion is the maximum build-out scenario. No bonds are technically ever issued, no financial transactions occur. It is a paper transaction.”
Chapter 100 of the revised statutes of Missouri authorizes cities, counties, towns and villages to issue industrial development revenue bonds to finance the purchase, construction, extension and improvement of a variety of different facilities within such governmental entities.
The plan includes no abatements for real property, meaning the county can collect the entirety of taxes on assessed real property values. The plan does include abatements for personal property based upon a formula that increases the percentage of taxes collectible over a number of years.
Amazon is planning a data center to be located on a 1,000-acre parcel in the northeast quadrant of the Interstate 70 and Highway 19 interchange near New Florence. The applicant for the project is listed as NorthPoint Development, LLC, based in Kansas City.
The proposed project would include two separate phases, with the initial phase consisting of four primary structures, with each consisting of 220,000 square feet under one roof. The site plan provided to Montgomery County Planning and Zoning also references a second phase which would include 13 additional buildings of similar size.
The Amazon proposal is one of two data center projects under consideration. The second project is planned in the southeast quadrant of the I-70 and Highway 19 interchange. The project consists of 780 acres in the county and 130 acres within the city limits of New Florence. The operation of the data center remains undisclosed.
The Montgomery County Commission scheduled a town hall meeting Monday, Dec. 8, to discuss the data center projects on Monday. That meeting was held past press time.
According to the proposed plan and Etcher, Amazon has also agreed to provide $1.5 million in 2026 to replace the 911 system in the county and upgrade all radios and equipment. They have also agreed to provide $1.5 million in 2027 to provide for other needs in the county.
Etcher said the project will also build a complete water system to be paid for by the developer, which will be transferred to the water district upon completion and will build a separate railroad crossing at Ellis Road.
Amazon also agreed to pave five miles of roads around the proposed facility site at the company’s cost.
According to Poston, the Montgomery County Commissioners will be holding a tax hearing in their chambers Thursday, Dec. 18, at 11 a.m. This is a meeting to allow the taxing entities the opportunity to be present at a public hearing where the proposed abatements will be discussed.
After discussing the basics of the proposed plan, Etcher said that attorneys are still writing up the terms regarding what would happen in the case the proposed center does not remain for the entire 25-year period.
Etcher said that in addition to the proposed upgrades and funding agreed to by the developer, they have agreed to provide at least 150 full-time jobs at build-out. The jobs must have an average annual wage of 150 percent of the county’s 2025 average annual wage, adjusted by 2 percent annually to account for inflation. If the company does not meet these requirements, they are not eligible for any tax abatements, he said.
Real Property
With respect to real property assessment values and proposed tax collections, the plan provides for two different scenarios entitled minimum and maximum scenario. The minimum scenario includes proposed values and revenues if Amazon only completes the initial four of 17 proposed 220,000 square foot structures. The maximum scenario pertains to completion of all 17 proposed structures.
Under the minimum scenario, the first-year taxes assessed on the Amazon project would be in 2028 with an estimated assessed value of $86 million, under that value the taxing jurisdictions would receive $5,239,987 in revenue based upon current tax rates. At full build-out of the project in 2029, the estimated assessed value would be $217.7 million with taxing jurisdictions receiving $13,204,768 in revenue based upon current rates. The taxing jurisdictions include: state of Missouri, Montgomery County, Development Disabilities Assistance Board, Montgomery County Health, Montgomery County R-II School District, Montgomery County Ambulance, New Florence Fire Protection District, Montgomery County Road and Bridge, Road District No. 1 and Commercial Surcharge.
To give a couple of individual examples, with the proposed data center, the county would gain $200,534 in revenues in 2028 and $505,347 in 2029 while the school district would gain $3,433,968 in 2028 and $8,653,599 in 2029.
From 2028 to 2050, taxing jurisdictions would be estimated to earn $326,610,109 in additional revenues.
Under the maximum scenario, the first-year taxes would be assessed in 2028, with an estimated assessed value of $216 million. Taxing jurisdictions would receive $13,099,968 in revenue based upon current rates under that value. At full build-out of the project in 2031, the estimated assessed value would be over $1.1 billion, with taxing jurisdictions receiving $66.7 million. Under this scenario the county would receive $501,336 in 2028 and $2,553,672 in 2031. The school district, by comparison, would receive $8,584,920 in 2028 and $43,729,293 in 2031.
From 2028 to 2050, taxing jurisdictions would be estimated to earn over $1.5 billion dollars in additional revenues.
Personal Property
With respect to personal property, the plan proposes a 25-year partial personal property tax abatement period which would include payments in lieu of taxes (PILOT).
From 2028 through 2032, the PILOT would be $3 million per year for all taxing districts other than the ambulance and fire district, which would receive the full amount of personal property taxes generated by the project.
The reason for this distinction, according to Etcher, is that the plan assumes the ambulance and fire districts will opt out of the abatement.
From 2033 through 2042, all taxing districts other than ambulance and fire would receive 5 percent of personal property taxes due, while ambulance and fire would receive 100 percent.
From 2043 to 2052, all taxing districts other than ambulance and fire would receive 25 percent of the personal property taxes owed, while ambulance and fire would again receive 100 percent.
For the 25-year partial payment period this would mean that the PILOT amounts would total $74,863,631 with tax abatements totaling $244,078,163 under the minimum scenario. Under the maximum scenario, PILOT payments would total $308,610,818, with tax abatements to Amazon totaling $982,437,754.
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