GUADALUPE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS COURT
The Guadalupe County Commissioners Court approved, both a development agreement and a tax abatement agreement with Cloudburst Data Center, 2955 Francis Harris Lane, between the city limits of San Marcos and New Braunfels, at the April 21 meeting.
Guadalupe County and Cloudburst Texas, LLC have a development agreement for a 706-acre data center site near the Hays County line. The county retains regulatory authority but grants Cloudburst vested rights under current rules, preventing future restrictions or delays. The project excludes residential use and includes specified utilities and a 100-foot setback. The agreement lasts 10 years with extensions tied to progress, runs with the land and becomes void if used for housing.
Guadalupe County’s proposed agreement with Cloudburst Texas, LLC would grant property tax abatements for a multi-building data center project valued at a minimum of $500 million. Construction is planned from 2026– 2030, with each phase qualifying for a 10-year abatement starting upon completion. Taxes would be reduced by 90% initially, decreasing over time. In return, Cloudburst must meet investment, job creation and operational requirements, maintain the facility longterm and comply with performance standards or risk repayment of abated taxes.
Cynthia Thompson, Executive Chair of Cloudburst Data Centers, said even with the abatement, over a ten-year period, Cloudburst will still pay $488 million in taxes to Guadalupe County, $4.5 million for roads and $394,000 for the York Creek Water District to help preserve the creek.
Guadalupe County Judge Kyle Kutscher said he believes there is a benefit to the project and preferred to have a data center over a residential development.
“I also understand that everything’s not perfect. There are potential concerns. There are potential harms that go along with any development that happens,” Kutscher said.
“20,000-25,000 residential lots within a few years is far more detrimental to the environment, looking at impervious cover, the activity, the number of people, the resource usage; the list goes on and on… There are potential hazards with anything, but residential development, the rate in which it’s happening, is hurting our county because we have very little control over it,” Kutscher said.
Guadalupe County Commissioner Jacqueline Ott didn’t believe a tax abatement was necessary for Cloudburst to operate in the county.
“It is true that we, as a county-level governing body, do not have the ability to control who sells their land, to whom they sell, and what a landowner does with land they purchase, so long as they are compliant with the law,” Ott said.
“However, having learned of other Texas counties who have not given tax abatements to data centers, with the knowledge that Texas is projected to be the next date center heavy hotspots and realizing that time is of the essence with the impetus being placed upon the data centers to develop and build, I believe it may not be necessary for this court to grant the academy in order for a data center to operate here,” according to Ott.
Both the development agreement and tax abatement agreement were passed three to two.
