Wichita Falls mayoral candidates debate Skybox hyperscale data center project
Wichita Falls mayoral candidates Tim Short and Scott Poenitzsch debated a proposed $20 billion hyperscale data center project associated with Skybox. Both candidates support economic development, but they differ over the project's location, potential tax benefits, and the lack of clear answers from Skybox.
Incumbent Mayor Tim Short and challenger Scott Poenitzsch discussed the proposed Skybox hyperscale data center project during a Wichita Falls mayoral debate. Short said he supports data centers generally but opposes placing a hyperscale facility immediately outside Wichita Falls, arguing that promised property-tax relief could take years to materialize and that Skybox has not provided clear answers.
Poenitzsch said he is not specifically pro-data-center but supports economic development, pointing to the project's estimated $20 billion value compared with the city's $7.961 billion tax base. The candidates also debated the city's purchase of Sikes Senter Mall and other local issues, including flood mitigation, but no final decision on the data center project was reported.