Hendricks County

Vantage Data Centers — Pittsboro, north of I-74, west of CR 500 East. 618 acres rezoned (285 acres to be developed). Three buildings: 256 MW, 96 MW, 48 MW. 100 full-time jobs. Pledged net-zero carbon by 2030, air-cooling (minimal water use). Pittsboro Town Council unanimously approved rezoning. Citizens filed lawsuit against the plans (Jul 2025). Status: APPROVED (under legal challenge).

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 Note: IC 6-1.1-12.3 (originally cited in some analyses) has been repealed; the active property tax provision is IC 6-1.1-10-44, as amended by P.L.256-2019, SEC.1.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.

Vantage Data Centers — two bodies voted:

PITTSBORO ADVISORY PLAN COMMISSION, 4-1 (Feb 25, 2025):
YES: Jarod Baker, April Wrigley, Gary Golay, Zach Buchanan.
NO: Jason Anderson — stated "a lot of people from the town had questions that were raised and weren't getting the good enough answers."

PITTSBORO TOWN COUNCIL, 5-0 unanimous (Mar 18, 2025):
YES: Jarod Baker, Larry Compton, William Majeske, Terry Northern, Randy Price.

ALL STILL IN OFFICE. Town website: townofpittsboro.org.

NOTE: Citizens filed lawsuit against the rezoning (Jul 2025), legal challenge pending. Jarod Baker served on both the Plan Commission and Town Council.

NO LOCAL TAX ABATEMENT CONFIRMED — rezoning approved but abatement details not public.

Pittsboro Town Council unanimously approved rezoning of 618+ acres of farmland for Vantage Data Centers. Planning Commission voted 4-1 in favor. The site is the former Smith Family Farms lot — 285 acres for the data center with remaining land for future industrial development.

A concerned resident mentioned a "50-year tax abatement" during public comment, but no specific abatement resolution or ordinance has been publicly confirmed. The 50-year figure likely refers to the state-level IEDC sales tax exemption (available for investments over $750M).

STATE LEVEL: Would qualify for IEDC data center sales tax exemption per HB 1405.

Specific local abatement terms — if any — would need to be obtained from Hendricks County document center (co.hendricks.in.us) or Pittsboro town records.

NO COMMUNITY ENHANCEMENT AGREEMENT found in public records.

Pittsboro unanimously approved rezoning for Vantage Data Centers but no CEA or community benefit payment has been publicly reported. Vantage's project coverage focuses on rezoning and land use, not financial commitments to the community.

Any future agreement would need to be obtained from Pittsboro town records or Hendricks County document center (co.hendricks.in.us).

N/A — no community enhancement payment identified (see Q62).

N/A — no community enhancement payment identified.

PROMISED: Not detailed in public reporting.
- Vantage Data Centers rezoned 618+ acres but specific job commitments were not included in the news coverage of the Pittsboro rezoning approval
- Industry standard for a campus this size: 50-200 permanent operations jobs

DELIVERED: None. Rezoning approved but construction timeline not confirmed.

CANNOT BE CALCULATED — no abatement confirmed, investment not finalized.

Vantage Data Centers has rezoning approval but specific investment commitment and tax terms are not in the public record.

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.

Vantage Data Centers: (1) Pittsboro Advisory Plan Commission — voted 4-1 (Feb 25, 2025) to recommend rezoning from agricultural to warehouse industrial. (2) Pittsboro Town Council — voted unanimously (Mar 18, 2025) to approve rezoning of 618 acres. Citizens filed lawsuit against the rezoning (Jul 2025). Legal challenge pending.

Vantage Data Centers — two bodies voted:

PITTSBORO ADVISORY PLAN COMMISSION, 4-1 (Feb 25, 2025):
YES: Jarod Baker, April Wrigley, Gary Golay, Zach Buchanan.
NO: Jason Anderson — stated "a lot of people from the town had questions that were raised and weren't getting the good enough answers."

PITTSBORO TOWN COUNCIL, 5-0 unanimous (Mar 18, 2025):
YES: Jarod Baker, Larry Compton, William Majeske, Terry Northern, Randy Price.

ALL STILL IN OFFICE. Town website: townofpittsboro.org.

NOTE: Citizens filed lawsuit against the rezoning (Jul 2025), legal challenge pending. Jarod Baker served on both the Plan Commission and Town Council.

Vantage Data Centers — two hearings:

(1) PITTSBORO PLAN COMMISSION, Feb 25, 2025:
YES, public testimony. Supporters included Northwest Hendricks School Corp, Middle Township Trustee, Pittsboro Fire Board, Police Dept, Park Board, and Hendricks County Economic Development Partnership. A "handful of remonstrators" formed the Data Center Concerned Citizens Group and hired attorney Arie Lapinski to represent them. Residents expressed concerns about noise, traffic, property values, water/power strain, and losing Pittsboro's small-town character.
Sentiment: MIXED — institutional support vs. residential opposition.

(2) PITTSBORO TOWN COUNCIL, Mar 18, 2025:
Passed 5-0 unanimously. Public comment details not published in available reporting.

Citizens later filed a lawsuit against the rezoning (Jul 2025), indicating the opposition did not accept the outcome.

YES — meeting information available.
Pittsboro Town Council: townofpittsboro.org/town-council
Meetings page: townofpittsboro.org/meetings
The town created a dedicated page for the Vantage data center rezoning: townofpittsboro.org/bc-apc/page/information-re-proposed-rezone-vantage-data-centers

Plan Commission Feb 25, 2025 hearing and Town Council Mar 18, 2025 vote: meeting documents available through the meetings portal. Agendas and minutes archived on the town website (2024 and 2025 archives at chestertonin.org/469/2024-Agendas-Minutes — note: this is Chesterton's page; Pittsboro's is at townofpittsboro.org/meetings).

TWO SEPARATE STATUTES, TWO DIFFERENT ANSWERS:

PROPERTY TAX (IC 6-1.1-10-44): NO clawback mechanism. The statute authorizes a local "designating body" (county or municipality) to enter an agreement granting a property tax exemption. The eligible business must invest $25M+ and pay wages at 125% of county average (Sec. 44(b)(3)-(4)). However, the statute contains NO enforcement, recapture, or penalty provision if these conditions are later unmet. The only protection would be terms negotiated into the local agreement itself — the statute does not require any.

SALES TAX (IC 6-2.5-15): LIMITED enforcement via noncompliance assessment. Section 15 requires an agreement with IEDC including annual reporting of taxes not paid. Section 18 provides: if IEDC determines a company is noncompliant with the agreement or chapter requirements, IEDC notifies the Dept. of Revenue, which MAY impose an assessment up to the total taxes exempted plus interest and penalties. The trigger is failing to meet the "qualified data center" definition (Sec. 10) — i.e., not reaching the investment threshold by the 5th anniversary.

CRITICAL OMISSIONS: Neither statute requires job creation targets, community benefit commitments, water use limits, renewable energy use, or any ongoing performance metrics beyond the initial investment threshold. There are no wage requirements in the sales tax statute. The property tax statute has a 125% county average wage requirement but no mechanism to enforce it after the exemption is granted. The first economic impact study (Sec. 20) is not due until 2030 — 11 years after the law passed.

2026 session reform bills: (1) HB 1210 (Rep. Ed Soliday, R) — PASSED, weakened. Original: data centers pay fair share of electricity costs. Senate version: $5M/year savings to ratepayers. Final (after private meetings with industry): 1% electricity savings, capped at $350K/year. Signed into law. (2) HB 1333 (Rep. Beau Baird, R) — DIED. Would have protected farmland from data center conversion by requiring agricultural zoning protections. (3) HB 1245 (Rep. Matt Pierce, D) — DIED. Would have required IURC to study data center electricity impacts on ratepayers. (4) SB 257 (Sen. Chris Garten, R-Charlestown) — DIED. Would have protected residential ratepayers from bearing data center infrastructure costs. (5) SB 79 (Sen. J.D. Ford, D-Indianapolis) — status unclear. Would require data centers to disclose water and electricity consumption. (6) HB 1043 — Would require DNR water consumption permit for large data centers. 2025 session: HB 1007 — ENACTED. Requires data centers to commit to paying 80% of generation costs for electricity. Pattern: 5 of 6 reform bills in 2026 died. The one that passed (HB 1210) was weakened from $5M/year to $350K/year in closed-door meetings.

No. Indiana does NOT require state-level environmental impact review for data center projects. There is no state EIS/EIR process equivalent to NEPA for private data center construction. Permits required: IDEM air permits for diesel backup generators (Title V or minor source); NPDES water discharge permits; stormwater permits. These are standard industrial permits, not data-center-specific review. Local ordinances are filling the void: Lake County (Aug 2025) adopted a data center ordinance requiring noise limits, setbacks, energy efficiency plans, water management plans, and decommission plans. Kosciusko County (Feb 2025) classified data centers as "exceptional use" requiring special permits. These are LOCAL responses to the absence of state-level requirements.

No. Indiana does NOT require data centers to report water consumption or use renewable energy. No existing statute or regulation mandates either. SB 79 (2026, Sen. J.D. Ford, D) would have required water and electricity consumption disclosure — status unclear/likely died. HB 1043 (2026) would have required a DNR water consumption permit for facilities using large volumes — status unclear/likely died. For context: IU Environmental Resilience Institute reports US data centers consumed 17.4 billion gallons of water in 2023, expected to double by 2028. A single hyperscale campus requires 200+ acres, 100+ MW of power (equivalent to 80,000 homes), and millions of gallons of water annually for cooling. Indiana is projected to need 426 TWh of data center electricity by 2030 — "more electricity than all 6.8 million Hoosier households today" (IU ERI).

UTILITY: Duke Energy Indiana (Pittsboro area).

No specific IURC filing related to the Vantage data center found. Duke Energy Indiana's general rate case was approved Jan-Apr 2025 with ~$295.7M revenue increase. Any grid impact for the Vantage project would be assessed during the interconnection process.

ESTIMATED WATER USE: Not disclosed.

Vantage Data Centers has not published water consumption for the Pittsboro site. Community concerns about "straining the town's water and power infrastructure" were raised during the Feb 25 public meeting.

Pittsboro is a small town — its water infrastructure capacity relative to a large data center campus is a significant open question.

NO PUBLIC STATEMENTS found from Pittsboro council members or Hendricks County officials defending or reconsidering the Vantage rezoning approval.

The rezoning was unanimous at the council level, suggesting no internal dissent was expressed publicly.

PITTSBORO TOWN COUNCIL — unanimous rezoning approval:

Individual council member names who voted are not in available reporting. The vote was unanimous.

TERMS: All municipal officials serve 4-year terms ending Dec 31, 2027.
NEXT ELECTION: Nov 2027.

Pittsboro is a small town (~3,600 pop). Town council has 5 members.

PITTSBORO TOWN COUNCIL:
- Location: Pittsboro Town Hall, 80 N Meridian St, Pittsboro, IN 46167
- Agendas: townofpittsboro.org
- Rezoning already approved (unanimous)

HENDRICKS COUNTY PLAN COMMISSION/COMMISSIONERS:
- County-level bodies if additional approvals needed
- Location: Hendricks County Government Center, Danville

HOW TO GET ON AGENDA: Contact Pittsboro Town Clerk. Small town — direct communication with council members is common.

== STATEWIDE VENUES (applicable to all Indiana counties) ==

INDIANA UTILITY REGULATORY COMMISSION (IURC):
- Holding 10 listening sessions across Indiana (Apr 2026) on rising utility costs
- Noblesville session Apr 9 drew ~20 residents connecting data centers to rate hikes
- Investigation into bill transparency and rising electricity costs
- Online comments: iurc.in.gov
- NIPSCO, AES, Duke rate cases are active — public comment periods exist for each

INDIANA GENERAL ASSEMBLY:
- 2026 session ADJOURNED sine die Feb 27, 2026
- Next session begins Jan 2027
- Key 2026 bills: SB 79 (IURC data center working group), HB 1210 (1% electricity savings surcharge), HB 1245 (demand study — never advanced)
- WFYI/Mirror Indy headline: "At a pivotal moment for data centers, Indiana lawmakers take little action"
- Citizens Action Coalition tracks all utility/data center bills: citact.org/26iga

IDEM (Indiana Dept of Environmental Management):
- Air permit applications trigger public comment periods
- Google Fort Wayne diesel generator permit was approved despite opposition
- Future data center air/water permits will have their own comment windows

== LOCAL (Pittsboro Town Council) ==
1. NEGOTIATE CEA: No community enhancement agreement identified despite rezoning approval.
FACT: No CEA found (Q62). Other communities negotiated millions in CEAs.

2. REQUIRE WATER/ENERGY IMPACT STUDY: "Straining the town's water and power infrastructure" was raised at Feb 25 public meeting but not addressed.
FACT: No water data disclosed. Pittsboro pop ~3,600 (Q67).

== PLAN COMMISSION ==
1. CONDITION BUILDING PERMITS on infrastructure capacity confirmation.

== STATE LEGISLATURE ==
1. REQUIRE SMALL MUNICIPALITY PROTECTION: Towns under 5,000 population should receive state technical assistance before approving data center projects.

== UTILITY COMMISSION (IURC) ==
1. ASSESS GRID CAPACITY for Hendricks County before additional data center load.