Data centers generate $1 billion in tax revenue annually in Arizona.
Posted by The Fox News Rundown, Checked
- Sources
- 2 support6 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 35%
The Fox News RundownOct 23, 2026
The only sources giving a statewide figure trace back to one advocacy group's claim that the industry generated over $1 billion in state and local tax revenue in 2024, and later coverage repeats it without independent verification. Individual-project estimates (roughly $5–15M property tax per building, $14.4M annually for a Glendale project) neither confirm nor refute a statewide $1B annual total.
This claim is about the present, so it is judged as of the day it was checked.
What was said
… and they use recirculated water, which uses the same amount as your average golf course, and they're not built in your backyards, then it's a win for the local communities. Here in Arizona, over $25 billion annually to our GDP comes from the data centers, a billion dollars in tax revenue that allows you to increase the pay of teachers. It allows you to go and take on some of these programs, social programs, that you need the money to do. It and so I think we need to have a really honest conversation and not just allow the Chinese propaganda that's out there to skew the public against these …
The Fox News Rundown · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. Josh Heywood of Project 48 Arizona, an industry-supporting nonprofit, said the industry generated over $1 billion in state and local tax revenue in 2024; this is a single advocacy claim, repeated in later coverage without an independent record.[3][4]
Context. An industry-affiliated Arizona Data Center Alliance piece estimates $5–15 million in annual property tax per 100-megawatt building, or $50–150 million for a 10-building campus, but does not give a statewide total.[5]
Context. An Arizona op-ed estimates a large data center generates roughly $10 million in annual property taxes, and Glendale's project is estimated at $14.4 million in annual revenue; these are project-level figures, not a statewide total.[6][7]
Context. The Tax Foundation's model reports tax liabilities for a $1 billion hypothetical data center in Phoenix (about $16.5 million), which is a modeled figure rather than an observed aggregate of Arizona data center taxes.[8]
Context. Official Arizona tax expenditure data and the 2015 AP state survey do not report a statewide data center tax revenue total, so no primary source confirms the $1 billion annual figure.[1][2]
Sources
8 sources: 1 fact-checker, 1 primary, 6 not rated
- 1State-by-state look at incentives for computer data centersapnews.com · fact-checker · cited for: context
- 2The Revenue Impact of Arizona s Tax Expernditures Fiscal Year ...azdor.gov · primary source · cited for: context
- 3Congressional candidate opposes data centers despite previous ...insidenova.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 4Congressional candidates debate economy, data centersground.news · not rated · cited for: supports
- 5The Tax Base Nobody Talks About | Arizona Data Center Allianceazdatacenter.org · not rated · cited for: context
- 6Kris Mayes' call for a data center moratorium is wrong and anti ...azcapitoltimes.com · not rated · cited for: context
- 7Residents said no, leaders said yes and Glendale gets massive data hubrmb.reuters.com · not rated · cited for: context
- 8State Taxation of Data Centers - Tax Foundationtaxfoundation.org · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post