The proposed Columbia County data center was once again the main topic of conversation at a second town hall held by Columbia County commissioners Monday night.
This town hall, which was hosted by District 1 Commissioner Connie Melear and District 4 Commissioner Alison Couch, touched on many of the same concerns brought up during the first town hall last week. When it came to why the county is considering the project, Couch said two factors were the potential for significant tax savings for citizens and it was the potential lowest impact of the land.
When it came to property taxes, Melear explained that 2/3 of the property taxes went to the Columbia County Board of Education. Of the portion the county gets, she said a large amount goes to “rule of law,” which includes the sheriff’s office, courts and jail. The rest goes to the county for a variety of different purposes, including being invested in the libraries, parks and more.
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Couch added that the tax revenue projects that could come in from the proposed data center would have to be divided between the Columbia County School District and Columbia County.
It was reiterated that the project is only in the consideration phase, no end user has been identified. Couch said the county is looking at impacts to water, power, noise and light, traffic and more.
One of the questions was when would the consideration phase end?
“Right now, there is no end user, so we would project when there is an end user and when we have actual different objectives to look at and then walk through, then that would be a (different phase) in this,” Couch said.
Melear added the county is trying to determine if they want to “entertain an end user.”
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“If somebody comes up and says, ‘hey we want to put one there,’” Melear said. “Do we want to entertain that based on what they say they want to do or is it just a hard no, no matter what they say. Are we going to entertain them and talk to them about it?”
There was a comment from a citizen asking why people are only hearing about the data center now and why more has not been said about it. The Augusta Press first reported on the proposed data center in Appling in April 2025.
Here are other stories TAP has done on the proposed data center:
- Proposed Data center main focus of Columbia County town hall
- Cyber growth stokes fears of potential water shortage in Columbia County
- Columbia County Observer investigates the proposed data center
- Columbia County Development Authority launches website to inform the public about data center park
- Columbia County chairman announces hope to eliminate residential property taxes
- Columbia County Development Authority further discuss White Oak Park expansion
- Columbia County Development Authority discusses Oak Park development after rezoning
- Rezoning for site of former First Baptist Church of Evans approved
- Development Authority of Columbia County proposes high-tech expansion of White Oak Park
More information can be found at https://www.whiteoak-techpark.com.
