New Albany City Council will vote Sept. 1 on whether to continue 43 tax abatement agreements covering Amazon, Google, Meta and dozens of other companies in the New Albany International Business Park.
The two resolutions, R-38-2026 and R-39-2026, would affirm recommendations from the city's Franklin County and Licking County Tax Incentive Review Councils, which met in July and found 41 agreements should continue. Two abatements — for Anomatic Corporation (Herm Wango Investments LLC) and Encova Insurance's data center — were deemed complete in 2025 and require no further action.
Who's on the list
The Licking County TIRC reviewed 27 agreements in the Oak Grove II zone on July 20. Among the companies recommended for continuation: Vadata Inc. and Preylock New Albany LLC (Amazon), Sidecat LLC (Meta), Montauk Innovations LLC (Google), Amgen Inc., AEP Ohio Transmission Company and EdgeConneX.
The Franklin County TIRC reviewed 16 agreements on July 13 across the Oak Grove, Oak Grove II, Central College and Village Center zones. That list includes Discover Financial Services, TJX Inc., American Regent, EOG Resources, Ohio Power Company, the Medical Center of New Albany and Google's Montauk Innovations LLC, which holds incentives in both counties.
What the deals require
Under New Albany's Community Reinvestment Area agreements, companies receive property tax abatements on new construction for 10 to 15 years — up to 30 years for state-designated "mega-projects" requiring $1 billion or more in investment or 1,000 or more jobs. In exchange, data center operators must meet a minimum annual service payment through a combination of TIF collections, New Community Authority charges, income tax revenue and direct payments in lieu of taxes.
The stakes are large. The city says those arrangements generated $10 million in community development charges in tax year 2024. A single hyperscaler produced revenue equivalent to $178 million in payroll at the city's 2% income tax rate that same year.
Annual review, annual vote
The vote is a statutory requirement under Ohio Revised Code Section 5709.85. Each TIRC, composed of the county auditor, county commissioner appointees, city representatives, township trustees and school district members, reviews every active agreement annually and forwards recommendations to council.
Last year, council approved both TIRC resolutions 7-0 on Sept. 2, 2025. That review flagged AEP Ohio for a $6.7 million payroll shortfall in tax year 2024; AEP cured it with a $134,568 payment in lieu of taxes.
Mayor Sloan Spalding has defended the transparency of the process. At the Dec. 16, 2025, council meeting, responding to a resident who called for greater disclosure of data center tax deals, Spalding said the county auditors' TIRCs "met and reviewed each tax incentive agreement every year, publicly and transparently."
The proposed legislation was prepared Aug. 21. Both resolutions take effect immediately upon adoption. Mayor Spalding and Clerk of Council Jennifer H. Mason are listed as certifying officials; Law Director Benjamin S. Albrecht approved both as to form.
The Sept. 1 meeting is open to the public at New Albany City Hall.
