EVANS, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – A deal between Google, the Columbia County Development Authority and the county itself for a $17 billion data center investment has been approved, county officials said. Columbia County has approved a memorandum of understanding for the project, which officials say could eventually help eliminate a portion of homeowners’ property tax bills. The Economic Development Authority of Columbia County approved the agreement, representing a commitment of at least $17 billion, one of the largest private investments in county history. County Manager Scott Johnson said the county will receive $40 million a year from Google for seven years. The Development Authority will receive about $5 million a year. “It gives us the opportunity to be able to fully fund the homestead tax relief grant. Should the voters approve that in November, we’ll be able to fully fund that grant,” Johnson said. Johnson said the agreement allows property tax relief to begin in year one. The county expects the first check at the end of this year or early next year. “We made certain promises to our taxpayers, and we let Google know in advance that they were gonna have to do certain things to be able to do business in Columbia County. And property tax relief was at the forefront of that. So we negotiated a deal that’s probably never been negotiated before,” Johnson said. Johnson said this is the first deal like this he’s seen made between a data center company and a local government with this…
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