Bill > HB2148

This bill provides a tax preference for rural and nonrural data centers in Washington. The key provisions include: - Establishing a sales and use tax exemption for qualifying businesses and tenants for eligible server equipment, power infrastructure, and related labor and services installed in eligible computer data centers in nonrural counties. Eligible data centers must have at least 20,000 square feet dedicated to housing working servers. - Limiting the exemption to no more than 8 data centers in nonrural counties, with a total of 12 eligible data centers statewide between July 2015 and July 2025. - Requiring qualifying businesses and tenants to meet minimum electrical capacity and employment requirements to maintain the exemption. - Providing an expiration date of January 1, 2030 for the new tax preferences. The bill aims to improve the competitiveness of Washington's data center industry and increase technology jobs, particularly in urban areas, by providing tax relief that is currently only available for rural data centers.