The Real Story – A Column
The Herald has long covered Data Centers- every aspect of them and their proliferation in our County and our State. And one of the stupidest things we offer as Oregonians and Hillsboro residents is allow these energy suckers to get away with is fleecing us of Property Taxes which we are owed- hundreds of Milllions of property taxes that we need for our schools, fire and polics, roads…you name it; we are being worked over and laughed at by all of the Data Center players. But the corporate “gravy train” in Washington County just hit a wall of its own making.
In a ruling handed down today, January 2026, and first reported this morning by Bloomberg News, the Oregon Tax Court told Beaver Ventures LLC—a shell for the global giant Digital Realty—that “close enough” doesn’t cut it when you’re asking for millions in taxpayer-funded gifts. The court tossed out a $3.42 million property tax exemption, essentially forcing one of the world’s biggest data center operators to actually pay the bill for the 2024-2025 tax year.
In a decision issued Jan 29, 2026, the Oregon Tax Court Regular Division (TC-5485) affirmed that Washington County was correct to deny the $3.4 million in exemptions sought by Beaver Ventures LLC.
“Judge Robert T. Manicke, who has presided over the Tax Court since 2018, made it clear in his ruling on TC-5485 that ‘Legislative Grace’ isn’t a blank check for global corporations who can’t be bothered to file their paperwork correctly.”
Who Are These Guys, Anyway?
Don’t let the local name fool you. Based on our reviews, Beaver Ventures is just a line item for Digital Realty Trust (DLR), a $72 billion real estate empire. When you peel back the curtain, you aren’t looking at “neighbors”—you’re looking at Wall Street sharks.
Digital Realty is owned by the “Big Three” of global finance: Vanguard (15.5%), BlackRock (11%), and State Street (6%); source https://www.investing.com/equities/digital-realty-trust-inc-drc-ownership . These entities control more wealth than most nations, yet their subsidiary in our backyard couldn’t manage to fill out a single tax form correctly. They tried to “bundle” two separate tax deals into a single shortcut, but the Washington County Assessor finally held the line. This time.
The Toxic Cost of “Growth”
This isn’t just about money; it’s about our Hillsboro community and environment. Things like safety and fresh air matter still, at least last time I checked. While Digital Realty was busy bungling its paperwork, its PDX11 facility on NE 62nd Ave North of US 26, was making headlines for all the wrong reasons.
The May 2025 data center battery fire wasn’t just a “technical glitch”—it was a five-hour chemical burn that released a cocktail of hydrogen fluoride and acidic gases. While their corporate suits issued platitudes about “minimal customer impact” (mostly focused on Elon Musk’s X going dark), the neighbors in Hillsboro were left wondering what was actually happening amid all the emergency vehicles at the site.
Lithium battery fires that have occurred in other states have resulted in heavy metal contamination—such as cobalt and nickel—at 1,000 times normal levels after similar fires, have prompted no public disclosure of soil or air testing here. Data Centers take our tax breaks, are major actors in the build-out of “megabatteries” near our schools, and then leave us to deal with the fallout.
Editor’s Note: Why This $3.4 Million Matters
This isn’t just a win for the tax collector; it’s a win for our kids. According to recent data, the Hillsboro School District is the “Biggest Loser” in the state of Oregon for the Data Center tax giveaway. While companies like Digital Realty enjoy a five-year property tax holiday, our schools are losing out on an estimated $143 million in revenue—that’s a loss of roughly $7,648 per student.
We are done with our teachers being told to “do more with less” while Wall Street firms with Billions in assets rake our tax system and our people over the coals. This $3.4 million is proof that when we stop giving these giants a free pass, we can start clawing back the resources our community deserves.
The Bottom Line
Hillsboro is tired of being treated like a corporate colony. If a company with a $72 billion market cap can’t follow basic filing rules or keep its batteries from exploding, why are we subsidizing them at all? This $3.4 million is a start, but the Hillsboro debate is just getting warmed up. The bill for our health and our land is finally coming due. While this paperwork glitch may be a one-time incident, it at least feels like, for once, we are getting some benefit from the freeloading guests we have so graciously allowed into our community.
What do you think? Sound off below.
“The May 2025 data center battery fire wasn’t just a “technical glitch”—it was a five-hour chemical burn that released a cocktail of hydrogen fluoride and acidic gases. ”
It wasn’t a battery fire. No gases mentioned here were released into the air. Get your facts straight.
My facts came from HFD and you are using a Proton Mail account- so move along rookie!