A free pass given to data center companies on the Pennsylvania sales tax is erasing hundreds of millions of dollars in state revenue, and a lawmaker wants to revoke the free pass and use the new flow of money to lower gas prices.
The concept from Sen. Jarrett Coleman, a Lehigh County Republican, comes as data center companies appear to be booming, with municipal governments around the state under pressure to make decisions on big-dollar data center land development proposals replete with unanswered questions. At the same time, gas prices have skyrocketed.
The average price per gallon in Pennsylvania was $4.42 on Friday, an increase of eight cents overnight and 38 cents in the past month. A year ago, the price was $3.36.
The sales tax break under the so-called Computer Data Center Exemption Program took effect on Jan. 1, 2022. A recent state report said about 12 data centers benefit from the break.