Residents in Ferguson, Missouri are campaigning to overturn a $1.5 billion tax deal approved by the city council for a massive data center development project in the majority Black community. In a late-night September 22 vote, council members passed incentives for SSL Investments to turn the former Emerson Electric campus on West Florissant Avenue into a tech hub and data center, after community opposition blocked an earlier version of the deal in May. According to the deal, the developer would pay roughly a quarter of its usual property taxes for at least 10 years – a break worth up to $1.5 billion, much of which would otherwise go to local schools. SSL Investments will pay $750K per year to a neighborhood improvement nonprofit, a sweetener that was added to win council votes after the original deal failed. Under the city charter a public referendum could kill the deal entirely. Petition signatures are due October 22 for a citywide vote.

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