Data center growth lowers ESD school bond estimate, offers funding benefits on both sides of river

EAST WENATCHEE — Data center construction is lowering the projected tax rate for Eastmont School District’s proposed $125 million bond, highlighting a benefit that school officials on both sides of the Columbia River expect to help finance building improvements.

Eastmont now estimates the bond would cost property owners 71 cents per $1,000 of assessed value annually, down from its earlier projection of 79 cents. The district attributes the reduction largely to new data center construction expanding its property tax base.

For a property assessed at $500,000, the revised estimate amounts to $355 annually, or about $29.58 per month, compared with the earlier estimate of $395 annually. The adjustment reduces the projected annual cost by $40. Eastmont says the revised estimate reflects preliminary 2027 assessed values provided by the county assessor Oct. 8.

Just as in Wenatchee, where data center development in Malaga is expected to contribute a growing share toward school taxes, Eastmont’s expanding commercial tax base would spread bond repayment costs across more taxable property.

The two districts are asking separate groups of voters to approve separate construction measures Nov. 3. But both proposals reflect the same regional development: major commercial investments are expected to carry a significant share of school construction costs that otherwise would fall more heavily on existing homeowners and businesses.

According to Eastmont, data centers now represent approximately 20% of its local tax base, with that share growing as development continues.

That growth also affects the district’s existing Educational Programs and Operations levy. Approved by voters in 2024 at an estimated rate of $1.93 per $1,000 of assessed value, the four-year levy is now projected at $1.86 per $1,000.

Eastmont’s proposed bond would modernize Kenroy, Lee and Cascade elementary schools and address priority safety and infrastructure needs elsewhere in the district. A 39-member community committee unanimously recommended the proposal. The district anticipates approximately $25 million in state construction assistance if voters approve it.

Across the river, Wenatchee School District is seeking a $275 million bond to replace much of Wenatchee High School and upgrade heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems at seven schools. That proposal would qualify for an estimated $83 million in state assistance.

Wenatchee’s bond information identifies six planned Microsoft buildings in Malaga as a source of expanding taxable value over the next several years. The district says the first facility is expected on the tax rolls in 2026–27, with additional buildings increasing the company’s contribution over time.

Wenatchee currently estimates its proposed bond rate at $1.46 per $1,000 of assessed value and expects tax-base growth to reduce that rate as development is added. Those projections remain subject to construction timing, assessed values and other financial assumptions.

Quincy offers a nearby example of the effect in action. Data centers account for about 54% of the taxable assessed value supporting school bonds there, Superintendent Nik Bergman told the Montana Electric Cooperatives’ Association in a report published in August. That tax base helped support a $118 million bond package that included the new Quincy High School, which opened in 2019, spreading construction costs across major commercial properties as well as homeowners, farmers and other businesses.

New commercial development does not reduce the amount voters are being asked to authorize. It increases the taxable property available to repay the bonds, reducing the share borne by other property owners compared with what they would pay without that growth.

For voters, the decisions remain local to their respective school districts. The potential benefit extends across the valley: a larger commercial tax base helping both communities address aging schools while sharing the cost more broadly.

Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media