Report: Amazon Data Services delinquent on Ohio county property tax bill, jeopardizing school funding

As the state grapples with a property tax crisis, one major company’s non-payment of its property tax bill totaled roughly 10% of Licking County’s delinquent property tax bills.

Amazon Data Services was responsible for $911,225.35 of Licking County’s delinquent property tax bills, according to The Reporting Project at Denison University, which analyzed notices published in the Newark Advocate. The company owed the taxes for its properties in the New Albany International Business Park.

In total, the county advertised $9.2 million in delinquent property taxes, roughly half of which would go to local schools. The total is 1.6% of this year’s $586 million in property tax bills, according to the report.

The outlet reported that the company paid a $50.56 bill. However, the publication, citing Licking County records, reported that Amazon had not paid three tax bills: $524,611.04 for 218 acres on Beech Road, $204,818.83 for 71 acres on Beech Road, and $181,795.48 for 68 acres on Miller Road.

However, county officials don’t seem worried. “That’ll get paid,” Licking County Treasurer Roy Van Atta told The Reporting Project.

According to the report, Amazon officials said the company paid the property taxes that were due in July. However, the company said that property tax bills, which were apparently corrected and were for the previous billing cycle, went to a different address.

“Amazon is actively engaged with Licking County to pay any outstanding amounts and ensure all future notices are sent to the appropriate mailing address,” the company told The Reporting Project in an Oct. 2 statement. “The amounts in the corrected property tax bills are due on Dec. 1, 2025.”

Data centers are a hot-button topic in the Buckeye State.

According to a new report prepared for the Ohio Chamber of Commerce Research Foundation, the state provided roughly $2.5 billion in tax incentives between 2017 and 2024 to attract and support data center development. The report claims “that for every $1 in tax incentives provided, Ohio has generated approximately $2.10 in new tax revenue.”

The study uses the so-called IMPLAN modeling system, a “regional input-output model” often used for economic impact analysis. However, as the report notes, one of its limitations is that the “model assumes that current inter-industry relationships remain stable over the forecast period.”

“IMPLAN accounts for Ohio’s regional trade flows, but it cannot predict future structural changes in the state’s economy or supply chains,” according to the report.

The state has attracted more than $40 billion in data center investments over the last decade, earning it the nickname of the Silicon Heartland. However, data centers are also straining the power grid.

Two natural gas-fired plants — the Socrates North and South power generation facilities — are under construction in New Albany. They will provide a combined 400 megawatts.

In June, the Ohio Power Siting Board authorized Will-Power OH to build and operate the Socrates North Power Generation Facility. The “behind-the-meter” plant on 20 acres in the New Albany International Business Park will serve a neighboring data center and is not connected to the power grid.

Sidecat, a Meta Platforms affiliate, will use the power.

“Emerging workarounds—from behind-the-meter (BTM) plants and transitional natural gas units to legacy plant restarts and efficiency gains—are proliferating, but the unifying lesson is clear: utilities alone cannot deliver power at the speed and scale required,” according to the Ohio Chamber of Commerce Research Foundation report.

Beyond the numbers, Ohio leaders face possible backlash at the ballot box.

While lawmakers are working to address increasing property taxes, some in Ohio are pushing a ballot initiative to eliminate property taxes altogether. Voters could have a say on the measure in November 2026.