MADISON — Gov. Tony Evers today took action on Assembly Bill 140, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 16, a bipartisan bill that creates exceptions for Tax Increment District (TID) Number 5 in the city of Port Washington and TID Number 10 in the city of Beaver Dam to support attracting new data centers to these communities and to continue growing this multi-billion-dollar industry in the state.
“With several global companies expanding and growing their businesses here in Wisconsin and our federal designation as a U.S. Regional Tech Hub, Wisconsin’s tech industry is growing and bringing with it countless family-supporting jobs, economic development opportunities, and substantial capital investments in our local communities,” said Gov. Evers. “This bill will help these two communities compete for new data centers, bolster our local communities, and build upon our work to build a 21st-century workforce and economy. I look forward to seeing how these developments will continue to take shape in the months and years ahead.”
Assembly Bill 140, now 2025 Wisconsin Act 16:
- Provides the cities of Port Washington and Beaver Dam additional resources to support large-scale data center projects, while preserving flexibility for future growth and development in other parts of the city;
- Specifies that, for TID Number 5 in Port Washington and TID Number 10 in Beaver Dam, the 12 percent equalized value limit does not apply if all project costs are related to a certified data center within the district; and
- Requires TID Number 5 in Port Washington and TID Number 10 in Beaver Dam include only project costs directly related to the data center and prohibits them from being amended in the future to include unrelated costs within the district or from allocating positive tax increments to other districts.
An online version of this release is available here.