The town of Quincy, Washington, has seen significant economic growth thanks to the presence of data centers. Microsoft built a massive data center in the area over twenty years ago, which has created several hundred jobs and contributed to property taxes that have helped fund large infrastructure projects.

Economic Benefits

The data centers have brought numerous benefits to the community, including a new police station, city hall, hospital, water and sewer system, and high school. The town’s poverty rate has also plummeted from above 30% to around 15% due to the economic boom created by the data centers.

Many members of the Hispanic community who used to work only six months of the year during the busy time for agriculture are now working good-paying jobs year-round at the data centers doing security work and other support services.

Water Usage

Concerns about water usage have been addressed, with data centers using only 5% of the water in the area. The food producers use 57% of the water for their crops, while small businesses and homes use 33% of the water.

Microsoft has also built a water-recycling system to reduce reliance on local water supplies, which is a closed-loop system. However, this system is not cheap, and many data centers around the country are relying on local water supplies.

Tax Benefits

The presence of data centers has also led to declining property tax bills for residents. For example, Rep. Alex Ybarra’s property tax bill decreased from around $5,000 to $1,500 after the data center was constructed.

Original reporting: KTBS 3 (Shreveport) — read the source article.