Hillsboro Council Faces Data Center Deals Head On At Tuesday Night Work Session And Council Meeting

The Real Story – A Column

Next Tuesday evening, June 2nd, 2026, at 6 PM, the City of Hillsboro will have a Work Session to hear more about Data Centers and Hillsboro’s recent and shocking approval of 18 Data Center Enterprise Zone property tax waivers, some of which forfeit tens if not hundreds of millions in revenues for decades to come.   The firestorm that the approval of these “deals” has caused is unlike anything we have ever seen here in Hillsboro. In fact, this level of activity and approval of such programs, which are allowed under state law, is unlike anything we have ever seen in Oregon’s history.

The people of Hillsboro are outraged, and the City has been working for weeks now to review its legal position and whether there is any way to unwind some of what has been done.   At the work session, members of the public will be allowed to sit and listen, but not engage.  It is very likely that much of what we will hear is legalistic in nature and designed to lay out options of how we deal with what was done.  The fact is that the State provided the Enterprise Zone Property Tax waiver program to give away property taxes as a carrot to attract companies and create real jobs.   Hillsboro and every other city in Oregon with Data Centers have approved Data Centers as a matter of due course and policy.  The “our hands are tied- we had to approve the applications” sort of positioning may be based on the truth of policy.  But Hillsboro has shown time and again that if it wants to change something or make something happen, it will. Regardless of any posturing or handling of what has happened, the people want this to end, they want this fixed, and they unequivocally want NO MORE DATA CENTERS.

Here is the rub-  Hillsboro has been built out with transpacific submarine cables, a massive power grid, zoning, and infrastructure, to be one of the biggest and fastest data hubs in the world.  What we have seen so far is likely just the beginning.  The money, National Security, politicians, and the players are all here.  The only thing that can stop them now is the people of Hillsboro and Washington County.  This fight happening now will define the existence of our community as we know it and it is spilling North to North Plains and West towards Banks.  The battlefield is vast, the money unimaginable, and the story lines are everywhere.  All eyes are on Hillsboro and the decisions that are made in the coming days and weeks ahead.

The work session starts at 6 PM.  It will end promptly at 7 PM, and the City Council will move into the main auditorium.  As that meeting starts, residents wanting to be heard can fill out a yellow card and have 3 minutes to speak their minds.  Anyone who has been attending knows this will be a busy night with many voices being heard.

MEETING INFO: 

A No Data Center Rally is planned at 5-6 PM out in the Public Plaza.  We are not sure who is planning that but we are seeing it show up on social media with calls for people to wear green and gather.

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No one can open social media or turn on the news without seeing National stories of communities at war with the industry.  Calls for bans, regulations, limits, and changes are happening across the US, and this issue has gained the attention of 70% of Americans regardless of political lines. Turns out jobs, energy bills, water, and the lack thereof, and environmental concerns affect all of us, and as Americans, we have had enough.

Here are just a few story lines playing out around the country this past week.

• Ohio Governor puts a temporary pause on Data Center Tax Breaks – and seems to be reacting to the fact that “Ohio residents are trying to bypass the GOP-controlled Legislature and get a referendum on November’s midterm election ballot that’s designed to permanently ban hyperscale data centers, likely the strictest such statewide ban under consideration in the U.S.” https://spectrumnews1.com/oh/columbus/news/2026/05/28/ohio-suspends-data-center-tax-break-as-tech-firms-face-pressure-to-pay-the-cost-to-power-ai?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

• In LaPine, Oregon, the City Council said NO to a bitcoin mining data center that promised the small town $800 million and 200 full-time jobs.   This small community showed others in Oregon how to stand up and say NO emphatically.   https://www.klcc.org/economy-business/2026-05-30/a-small-central-oregon-town-shoots-down-data-center-development

“It was amazing how many people came out across party lines. It became an issue for Republicans and Democrats and non-political folks as well.”

Political outcomes show that anyone in power needs to listen, as their positions are tenuous if they choose to continue carrying water for big tech and energy rather than the people they are supposed to support.

Virginia, the Data Center capital of the world, has a movement to shut down the tax incentives that have brought hundreds of data centers to the State.  And New Jersey is requiring Data Centers to provide 100% of all power costs, document them, and also report on water and electricity use monthly.  That level of disclosure seems like a dream in Oregon, but it should be an absolute requirement as the state moves ahead.

The Herald will be at the Tuesday night Work Session and City Council meeting.  We look forward to hearing what the Hillsboro leadership has come up with.   The thing we must all discuss is how we got to this place, but what matters most now is what we do from here on out.  Without BOLD leadership, aggressive moves, planning and zoning changes, new tax policies, a better revenue model, and a PEOPLE-CENTERED focus, we will not succeed.

All of our leaders need to stand up, be bold, and throw down the gauntlet.  Let’s see who has the juice and who is on board with the people.