Taxpayers Threatened by County Supervisor’s Data Center Shenanigans

There are many important questions about data centers today that are rightly being asked. And then there are those who seem to be stoking this controversy for political gain while needlessly driving up public fear and anxiety.

A case in point for both is Loudoun County, Virginia, located outside of Washington, D.C., and America’s epicenter for data centers. Loudoun County has more than 250 data centers comprising 53 million square feet.

National publications consistently report that the County’s quality of life is excellent, with low taxes, vast open space, and healthy citizens. Since 2007, Loudoun has had strong and sustained economic growth primarily through its economic development agency’s concerted work to attract data centers and rigorous County oversight of proposed facilities.

On March 18, 2025, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors voted to require a board vote on applications to establish data centers, something which staff previously had the authority to approve. The Board also passed a grandfathering resolution allowing roughly 23 applications already filed to continue in the prior manner.

Which brings us to the shenanigans.

On August 19, Loudoun County Supervisors Juli E. Briskman and Laura A. TeKrony announced they would introduce legislation on September 1 to end the grandfathering provisions. At issue are approximately 20 potential new data centers with a maximum total of 18.2 million square feet.

There would be many practical and financial problems if Loudoun were to change the rules of the game on the grandfathered facilities in the middle of the application process, especially after a nearly identical 2025 vote with the same board members.

First, it sends a message to all businesses that the County’s approach to evaluating business development is arbitrary and capricious, and that the County is not a reliable or trustworthy partner.

Second, the financial liabilities are significant. Companies that made expensive land purchases and undertook extensive planning work with the expectation that they would be able to meet the legal requirements to build data centers will have a strong legal case against the County for financial harm.

Furthermore, data centers are integral to Loudoun County’s budget, accounting for $1.3 billion in annual tax revenue. With a population of 446,530, data centers pay the equivalent of $2,911 for every man, woman, and child in Loudoun County.

Supervisor Briskman, who was recently removed as Chair of the Board’s Finance Committee, last week dismissed the contribution of data centers to the County’s finances. In an August 19 story in The New York Times, she said, “We’ve become addicted to data centers for their tax revenues, but at what cost?”

Well, the cost, or more likely the benefit, of having these clean business centers is $2,911 per resident annually.

On July 22, Briskman’s fellow supervisors voted 5-3 to remove her as Chair of the County’s Finance Committee. This was not a partisan issue. Briskman is a Democrat and the Board of Supervisors has a 7-2 supermajority of Democrats.

Citing a series of incidents over the past five years, Board of Supervisors Chair Phyllis Randall said the move was due to “multiple incidents that have caused pain, harm, confusion to the body as a whole.” For more on the incidents cited, see the Loudoun Times-Mirror article here.

Furthermore, Briskman’s X/Twitter page is heavily focused on national issues, with strong support for Democratic Socialist candidates and far-left causes.

On August 25, six days after announcing her planned motion for a vote on ending the data center grandfathering provision at a September 1 meeting, Briskman announced she will be run for Chair of the Board of Supervisors. That public vote is a ways down the road, though, on November 2, 2027.

When counties and localities decide whether to permit data center construction, they go through a careful and rigorous process designed to attract quality companies and ensure the projects benefit both the community and businesses. At its next meeting on September 1, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors should fully and categorically reject Supervisor Briskman’s proposal, not only because it is another embarrassment to the board, but because it will be costly to taxpayers and will harm the entire county’s reputation.