Most towns argue with a developer. Edgerton, Kan., took its own residents to court. Their offense was a petition. It had more than double the signatures needed to put a ban on data centers to a vote.
The town sits about 45 minutes outside Kansas City, Kan. A judge dismissed the city's suit in September. Residents then filed their own suit to force the ban onto November's ballot. It isn't there yet. The city says zoning approvals are administrative, so they can't go to voters. The petitioners' lawyer says a ban is a new land-use policy, which voters can decide. At a crowded council meeting this month, some residents called on the council to resign.
The developer is Dubai-based Damac Properties. Its chairman, Hussain Sajwani, pledged $20 billion for U.S. data centers after President Trump's re-election. Damac has worked with Trump on projects in the Middle East, Deborah Acosta reports in the Journal. A White House spokeswoman credited the president with making data centers a boost for communities “that want them.” The ground was laid years earlier. A Kansas City developer, NorthPoint, built a logistics park of more than 2,300 acres. In 2025, the city said data centers could be built “by right” in that industrial zone. That let the project skip rezoning hearings. The planning commission rejected Damac's site plan in June 2026 over its fuel tanks. The council overturned that after Damac said the tanks would go underground.
Who pays, and for how long
Now the tax math the neighbors live with. Kansas lawmakers passed 20-year tax incentives for giant data centers last year. Meanwhile, Edgerton homeowners have faced rising property-tax bills. The city added a 1% special project sales tax. To soften the hit, it gave a 10% tax rebate this year and offered a one-time 40% rebate for next year. Water is the other worry. Nearby Hillsdale Lake supplies drinking water to about 56,000 people. Damac promises a closed-loop cooling system. The city says Damac told it nothing will be discharged into wastewater or groundwater. “Anytime they need to flush those lines, they'll truck it off-site,” a city spokeswoman said.
Our read
This is Housing (M6) and Tax. Backers say data centers bring jobs and tax money for schools and roads, the Journal reported Thursday. That can be true. But a long tax break for one big project doesn't make a town's costs go away. Roads, schools and water still need paying for, and homeowners and shoppers can end up carrying more of it. Edgerton shows the timing gap plainly. The state's offer to data centers runs 20 years. The homeowners' relief comes one year at a time. We take no side on the ballot fight. That's for voters and the courts.
Here's the link to your own budget. If you own a home on a fixed income, pull out your last property-tax bill this week. Find any rebate, credit or freeze, and check whether it's one-time or lasting. Edgerton's 40% rebate covers one year. If you build next year's budget on it, the year after will sting. Budget the full bill and treat any rebate as a bonus. If the numbers don't add up, bring the bill to your next review. A rebate is one sunny afternoon, so pack the umbrella for the whole season.