Saline Township Reaffirms 12-Year Tax Break for Oracle's $43.1B Campus

Saline Township, Michigan, trustees voted unanimously on Nov. 11 to reaffirm a 12-year, 50% property tax break for Oracle's planned $43.1 billion AI data center, the Detroit News reported. A second resolution, also unanimous, ratified the Industrial Development District where the campus is being built.

The township's agenda for the 7:00 p.m. regular meeting listed public hearings and resolutions on both the Industrial Development District and the Industrial Facilities Exemption Certificate. According to the Detroit News, the resolution reaffirms the township's earlier approval of Oracle's request and asks the state to issue the exemption. Oracle officials declined to comment, the newspaper said.

The vote followed more than an hour of public criticism, the Detroit News reported. Speakers questioned the approval process and raised farmland, water, electricity cost, traffic and noise concerns. Washtenaw County Commissioner Yousef Rabhi told the board the tax break goes to a corporation that does not need it. The project, known locally as the Saline Barn, is being developed by Related Digital for Oracle and OpenAI. As Voltgrid News tracked in its roundup of 17 data center disputes, a separate Michigan case, Attorney General Dana Nessel's appeal of the state's approval of DTE power contracts for the site, was briefed on Aug. 6 and has no reported ruling.

Why the Board Voted Again

The Nov. 11 votes answer a legal challenge. The Detroit News said an attorney argued the township never held a required public hearing before creating the Industrial Development District, which could void Oracle's eligibility for the break. In February, a Washtenaw County judge rejected resident Kathryn Haushalter's attempt to intervene in the settled lawsuit between the township and Related Digital, the paper reported.

The abatement itself has changed twice since July. The Saline Post reported that on July 14 the board limited the break to about $4.8 billion, the project's value estimated the previous fall. Three days later, at a special meeting, it voted 5-0 to grant the exemption on $43.1 billion, roughly nine times the capped base. The township's attorney, David Landry, told the board that the 2025 consent judgment with Related Digital says the township "shall" approve the maximum exemption and that Public Act 198 does not let a township lower the amount, the Saline Post reported. He warned that refusing would bring a lawsuit and damages he put above $1 million. Planet Detroit, citing MLive, reported that a clawback provision requiring repayment if conditions are not met remains in effect.

What the Campus Means for Power and Jobs

Tom's Hardware reported, citing the Detroit Free Press, that the Michigan Public Service Commission voted 3-0 to let DTE Energy deliver 1.4 GW to the Saline Township site. It said Oracle subsidiary Green Chile Ventures must pay for 80% of contracted capacity whether or not it uses it, under a contract of at least 19 years. The site is part of the OpenAI and Oracle Stargate program, which Tom's Hardware described as aiming for more than 5 GW of computing capacity. For comparison, OpenAI's Project Camellia in Effingham County, Georgia, had its site plan tabled to Nov. 17.

Officials with OpenAI and Oracle say the project will generate more than 2,500 union construction jobs and more than 450 permanent jobs, according to the Detroit News. The paper also reported that the project is projected to give the township roughly $1.6 million a year through 2039, plus millions more for local schools.

What Comes Next

The exemption is not yet in force. The township's resolution asks the state to issue it, and the Detroit News reported no timetable for that decision. Opponents have already challenged how the district was created, which is the issue the ratification vote targets. The Detroit News also noted that newly elected governors in Ohio, Georgia, Michigan, New Mexico and Texas campaigned on pausing data center construction statewide; it did not say whether that would reach this project.

Not confirmed yet: the township had not posted minutes of the Nov. 11 meeting when this was written, so the vote count rests on the Detroit News report, and no source reviewed gives the campus's critical IT capacity.