Governor Chet Culver and Google Inc. have announced plans for the company to open a data center in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Google Inc. is investing $600 million in the facility. Paul Froutan, Director of Operations, Google Inc. commented: "We look forward to joining the community and are grateful for the support from the state and local governments throughout our evaluation process.
Google's data center is under construction on a 55-acre site at the Council Bluffs Industrial Foundation's new business park and is anticipated to open spring 2009.
Last month, Gov. Culver signed a bill upgrading Iowa's tax system related to sales tax, use tax, and property tax for computer related businesses. The state legislature's work exempts the electricity and capital investment necessary for this kind of a facility from sales tax, as is common in the manufacturing sector.
Google Inc. will pay an estimated $65 million in property taxes over the next 15 years. This revenue is the equivalent of the property tax collected annually from 3,771 homeowners, based on the median property taxes paid in 2000. Google also will pay an estimated $6 million in sales taxes in just the next two years from the purchase of building materials, hundreds of thousands of dollars per year in electricity franchise fees and income, payroll and other taxes when operating the facility.
The planned investment of $600 million for a data center project covers two facilities, including retrofit of an existing vacant industrial building. Construction has already begun on the first facility and they plan to begin the second once the first is completed. The investment includes purchase of the existing building, land, site preparation and infrastructure, construction, computers, and other equipment. Expansions are possible, but the company has no definite plans at this time.
The site includes three parcels (of about 55, 130, and 1000 acres, respectively) for a total of approximately 1185 acres. This provides extensive room for growth beyond the two data center buildings that are currently planned. Google is still evaluating the development potential of the other two parcels.
Google is building new data centers to support the strong and growing demand for its online services.
Google has a strategic interest in the central region of the US. The region is a busy crossroads of Internet activity, and Google has had to make sure it can process requests from customers and prospective customers living in or traveling through this broad and diverse region.