Project Saltworks ends county tax negotiations
Headwaters Site Development has ended negotiations with Young County over a property tax abatement for Project Saltworks, a proposed data center campus near Graham. The project is moving forward without the tax incentive, leaving protections involving water use, noise, emergency services, buffers and infrastructure without a legally enforceable agreement.
Headwaters Site Development is proceeding with Project Saltworks, a proposed multibuilding data center campus near Graham, after withdrawing its request for a Young County property tax abatement. Young County Judge Edwin “Win” Graham said negotiations ended after growing community opposition, even as the proposed site expanded from about 850 acres to 2,500 acres and construction could begin as early as November.
The county had sought enforceable commitments covering additional sheriff’s deputies and dispatchers, water-use restrictions, noise limits, property buffers, vegetative screening, lighting, green space and construction workforce impacts. Residents and the Stop Graham Data Center group remain concerned about water availability, drought operations, traffic, noise, property values and effects on Graham Country Club. Headwaters says its closed-loop cooling system will avoid evaporative cooling and limit water consumption, but it is unclear which protections will be adopted voluntarily now that the tax negotiations have ended.