Umatilla County and City ‘Fighting’ Over Amazon Data Center Money

Often, counties or cities will negotiate deals with large companies and developers that involve 'waiving' some or all property taxes in exchange for a payment system.  It's done to entice these firms to build and operate their businesses in that area.

Often, these companies provide an economic boom or lift to the area, which offsets the lost property taxes in other ways. Plus, by putting in place a payment plan, they still get money.

Amazon is building three data centers in Umatilla County for a subsidiary company that helps handle their information and data. One of these payment deals was negotiated with the developer, a company called Vadata, foregoing some of their property taxes for 15 years in exchange for payments. It also includes a $4 million dollar annual payment.

But now the county and the city of Umatilla are fighting over that $4 million dollar annual payment. The city wants $2 million, the county says it will give them $1 million. The two sides have not signed a formal agreement on this matter, and the city has filed a public records information request. They want to know how the county arrived at their figure, and when that meeting took place.

We will keep you posted as developments continue.