Saline Township trustees on Nov. 11 reaffirmed a 12-year tax break for Oracle's planned USD 43.1 billion AI data center, following more than an hour of criticism from residents and local officials who questioned the project's approval process and warned of its impact on communities across Washtenaw County.

Board Votes to Stand by Contested Approvals

The resolution reaffirms the township's prior approval of Oracle's request for a 12-year, 50% tax break on its planned USD 43.1 billion data center investment and asks the state to issue the exemption. In a separate but related action, the board also voted to ratify the creation of the Industrial Development District where the facility is being built. Both measures passed unanimously.

The ratification followed a legal challenge that argued the township failed to hold a required public hearing before establishing the district, potentially invalidating Oracle's eligibility for the tax break. In February, a Washtenaw County judge rejected an attempt by Saline Township resident Kathryn Haushalter to intervene in the settled lawsuit between the township and data center developer Related Digital.

"It's disappointing. It does seem like something shady is happening," said Courtney Brady of Ypsilanti Township after the meeting.

Packed Hall, Sustained Opposition

Residents of Saline Township and other Washtenaw County communities packed the rural Township Hall, which had a full parking lot and few seats remaining amid the sizable turnout.

One after another, for more than an hour, speakers challenged the legality of the township's approval process while raising broader concerns about the project's effect on farmland, water supplies, electricity costs, traffic, and noise.

Yousef Rabhi, a Washtenaw County commissioner and former state representative who was recently elected Ann Arbor's next mayor, was among the local officials who spoke against the project.

"This is not just going to have an impact on the people of Saline Township. It is going to have an impact on everybody in Washtenaw County," Rabhi said. "You are granting a multibillion-dollar corporation a tax abatement that they do not need. We do not need to be in the business, here in Saline Township, or anywhere, of making the wealthy wealthier."

The project, informally dubbed the Saline Barn, has drawn fierce opposition from residents concerned about farmland loss, water consumption, noise, increased traffic, and electricity costs. Critics have also questioned the township's approval process, citing limited transparency, a lack of public input, and officials' decision to settle Related Digital's lawsuit rather than continue fighting the rezoning request.

"The way that (Oracle) is just rolling over townships ... it's crazy," said Andy Melichar, a Ypsilanti Township resident and data center industry professional who has become a prominent critic of local AI computing facility projects.

Projected Jobs and Revenue

Officials with OpenAI and Oracle say the project is expected to generate more than 2,500 union construction jobs and create more than 450 jobs once the center is operational. The data center is also projected to provide Saline Township roughly USD 1.6 million annually through 2039, along with millions more for local schools.

Wider Battle Over Data Centers

Opposition to data centers had been building across the country, with communities issuing moratoriums or even blocking projects. The midterm election this month then tilted a broad swath of the regulatory map against the AI buildout: newly elected governors in Ohio, Georgia, Michigan, New Mexico and Texas campaigned on a promise to stop, or at least pause, data center construction statewide.

President Donald Trump supports AI data centers and is backing a bipartisan energy bill before Congress that would speed up approvals for new power plants and transmission lines while requiring large data center operators to bear more of the cost of grid upgrades needed to serve them.

"Remember, China will take any data center that we don't want and pay lots of money for it," Trump said in backing the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act and urging the Senate to pass it.

Against that backdrop, Saline Township's unanimous votes leave the Oracle project's local approvals intact, even as the matter remains a flashpoint for residents across the county.

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