Clinton County

Unknown developer — 715 acres near Frankfort. Area Plan Commission sent "no recommendation." County Commissioners REJECTED 3-0 (Jan 20, 2026). Commissioner Kevin Myers: "more negative than positive" public comment, "the majority of residents were against it." Cannot be reintroduced for 12 months per Indiana law. Note: had commissioners not decided within 90 days, the rezoning would have received automatic approval. They acted within that window. Status: REJECTED.

HB 1405 (2019), signed May 5, 2019 by Gov. Eric Holcomb as Public Law 256. Codified at IC 6-1.1-10-44 (property tax exemption for enterprise IT equipment) and IC 6-2.5-15 (sales tax exemption for data center equipment). Created Indiana's data center tax incentive framework: sales tax exemptions on equipment and electricity, plus business personal property tax exemptions for qualifying data centers. Note: IC 6-1.1-12.3 (originally cited in some analyses) has been repealed; the active property tax provision is IC 6-1.1-10-44, as amended by P.L.256-2019, SEC.1.

HB 1405/P.L. 256 exempts: (1) Sales tax on data center equipment purchases — servers, storage, networking, cooling, backup power (IC 6-2.5-15-11); (2) Sales tax on electricity consumed by qualifying data centers; (3) Business personal property tax on enterprise IT equipment (IC 6-1.1-10-44) — duration set by local agreement between designating body and eligible business; (4) Sales tax certificate duration: 25 years (or 50 years if investment >= $750M) per IC 6-2.5-15-14. Qualifying thresholds are population-tiered (IC 6-2.5-15-10): $150M in counties >100K population, $100M in counties 50K-100K, $25M in counties <=50K. Investment must be met by 5th anniversary of certificate.

Data center proposal — Clinton County Commissioners, 3-0 REJECTION (Jan 20, 2026):
NO: Bert Weaver, Kevin Myers, Jordan Brewer — all three voted to REJECT rezoning.
Commissioner Myers: received "more negative than positive" public comment.
Clinton County Area Plan Commission had earlier sent "no recommendation."

ALL STILL IN OFFICE. Cannot be reintroduced for 12 months per Indiana law.

This is one of only two Indiana counties where a data center was formally rejected by vote (the other being the St. Joseph County second proposal Dec 2025).

NO TAX ABATEMENT — project rejected before abatement stage.

Clinton County Commissioners voted 3-0 to REJECT the data center rezoning on Jan 20, 2025. The project never reached the tax abatement discussion stage.

Background: A developer proposed a 715-acre data center near Frankfort. The Area Plan Commission sent a "no recommendation" to commissioners on Jan 6, 2025. Commissioner Kevin Myers: "I received a significant amount of public comment, and it was more negative than positive." The developer subsequently rescinded its petition.

A 12-month waiting period is in effect — the proposal cannot be reintroduced until Jan 2026 at earliest.

Had the project proceeded, it would have been eligible for state IEDC data center sales tax exemption. No local abatement was ever formally requested.

NO — project rejected before community benefit negotiations.

The Clinton County data center proposal was rejected 3-0 by commissioners on Jan 20, 2025. No community enhancement agreement was ever discussed or negotiated.
The developer subsequently rescinded its petition.

N/A — project rejected. No enhancement payment was negotiated (see Q62).

N/A — project rejected. No payments were ever negotiated.

N/A — project rejected. No job commitments were formalized.
The developer's proposal for a 715-acre data center was rejected 3-0 by commissioners before employment terms were finalized.

N/A — project rejected before tax terms were negotiated.

Primary authors: Rep. Ed Soliday (R-Valparaiso, HD 4) — still in office as of 2026; Sen. Jim Buck (R-Kokomo, SD 21); Sen. Ed Charbonneau (R-Valparaiso, SD 5); Sen. Travis Holdman (R-Markle, SD 19); Rep. Erin Houchin (R-Salem, HD 47) — now U.S. Representative IN-9; Sen. Mark Messmer (R-Jasper, SD 48); Sen. Lonnie Randolph (D-East Chicago, SD 2) — Lake County. Co-authors: Rep. Earl Harris Sr. (D-East Chicago, HD 2) — Lake County; Rep. Todd Huston (R-Fishers, HD 37); Rep. Carolyn Jackson (D-Hammond, HD 1) — Lake County; Rep. Matthew Lehman (R-Berne, HD 79); Rep. Jim Pressel (R-Rolling Prairie, HD 20) — LaPorte County. Note: 3 of 12 sponsors represent Lake County districts.

House initial passage: 95-1 (Feb 19, 2019). Senate passage: 46-0 (Mar 25, 2019). Conference committee report adopted: House 82-8 (Apr 18, 2019), Senate 44-0 (Apr 18, 2019). Signed by Governor: May 5, 2019. The bill passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in all votes.

(1) Clinton County Area Plan Commission — sent "no recommendation" to commissioners. (2) Clinton County Commissioners — voted 3-0 to REJECT rezoning on Jan 20, 2026. Commissioners: Bert Weaver, Kevin Myers, Jordan Brewer (all voted no). Commissioner Myers: received "more negative than positive" public comment. Cannot be reintroduced for 12 months per Indiana law.

Data center proposal — Clinton County Commissioners, 3-0 REJECTION (Jan 20, 2026):
NO: Bert Weaver, Kevin Myers, Jordan Brewer — all three voted to REJECT rezoning.
Commissioner Myers: received "more negative than positive" public comment.
Clinton County Area Plan Commission had earlier sent "no recommendation."

ALL STILL IN OFFICE. Cannot be reintroduced for 12 months per Indiana law.

This is one of only two Indiana counties where a data center was formally rejected by vote (the other being the St. Joseph County second proposal Dec 2025).

Data center (rejected) — Clinton County Commissioners, Jan 20, 2026:
YES, public testimony preceded the vote. The Area Plan Commission had previously sent "no recommendation" to the commissioners.

Commissioner Kevin Myers: "I received a significant amount of public comment, and it was more negative than positive." Myers attributed his vote to community reaction — "most of the feedback was more against it than for it." His biggest concern was "the property owners — not only those directly affected, but those who live in close proximity to the proposed site."

Sentiment: STRONGLY AGAINST — commissioners cited public opposition as the primary reason for the 3-0 rejection. Clinton County Daily News and Clinton County Today published full video of the hearing.

This was a rare case where public testimony directly influenced the outcome.

YES — full video available.
Clinton County Daily News published full VIDEO of the Jan 20, 2026 commissioners meeting where the data center was rejected 3-0.
URL: clintoncountydailynews.com (article: "Clinton County Commissioners Deny Rezoning Request for Proposed Data Center: VIDEO")
Clinton County Today also covered the hearing: clintoncountytoday.com

Area Plan Commission meeting (Jan 6, 2026, "no recommendation" vote): coverage from Clinton County Daily News.

DEFENDED THE REJECTION.

Commissioner Kevin Myers publicly explained the 3-0 rejection: "I received a significant amount of public comment, and it was more negative than positive." Cited property owner concerns as his primary reason.

No commissioner has expressed regret about the rejection.

CLINTON COUNTY COMMISSIONERS — voted 3-0 to REJECT (2025):

- BERT WEAVER (District 1, Vice President)
- KEVIN MYERS (District 2) — publicly explained rejection
- JORDAN BREWER (District 3, President)

All three serve 4-year staggered terms. Indiana county commissioners: Districts 1 & 3 typically elected presidential years, District 2 midterm years.

NEXT ELECTIONS:
- Weaver (D1) and Brewer (D3): likely Nov 2028
- Myers (D2): likely Nov 2026

NOTE: These officials REJECTED the data center. They are accountable to voters who may SUPPORT their decision, not oppose it.

CLINTON COUNTY COMMISSIONERS:
- Location: Courthouse, 265 Courthouse Sq, Frankfort, IN 46041
- Project was REJECTED 3-0. No further data center meetings expected unless a new proposal is filed.

If a new developer approaches Clinton County, the process restarts with Plan Commission public hearings.

== ALL LEVELS ==
Clinton County REJECTED the data center 3-0. The policy ask here is to SUSTAIN and LEARN FROM the rejection.

== LOCAL (Clinton County Commissioners) ==
1. CODIFY REJECTION CRITERIA: Turn Commissioner Myers' reasoning into formal policy — "more negative than positive" public comment should trigger automatic denial or additional review.
FACT: Myers cited overwhelming negative public comment as primary reason (Q69).

2. ADOPT DATA CENTER STANDARDS: If a future developer approaches, have standards ready (water limits, energy disclosure, CEA minimums).

== STATE LEGISLATURE ==
1. PROTECT LOCAL CONTROL: State should not override county rejections. Senate Enrolled Act 1 (2024) shifted some authority away from local governments.

== UTILITY COMMISSION (IURC) ==
1. No active utility issue since project was rejected.