Saline Township trustees voted unanimously on Nov. 11 to reaffirm a 12-year, 50% tax exemption for Oracle's planned USD 43.1 billion artificial intelligence data center, a decision that came after more than an hour of public commentary at a packed township hall.

Trustees Reaffirm Exemption Despite Hour of Public Objection

The resolution restates the township's earlier approval of Oracle's tax break request and asks the state to issue the exemption. In a second unanimous vote the same evening, the board ratified the creation of the Industrial Development District where the facility is under construction.

That ratification followed a legal challenge claiming the township had skipped a required public hearing when it first established the district, an omission that could have undermined Oracle's eligibility for the tax abatement. In February, a Washtenaw County judge refused to let township resident Kathryn Haushalter intervene in the settled lawsuit between the township and developer Related Digital.

Standing Room Only as Critics Line Up

The rural Township Hall drew a large crowd from Saline Township and neighboring Washtenaw County communities, with the parking lot filled and seats scarce.

For more than an hour, speaker after speaker questioned whether the township's approval process was lawful and raised concerns spanning farmland loss, water supplies, rising electricity costs, traffic and noise.

Among the officials who spoke in opposition was Yousef Rabhi, a Washtenaw County commissioner and former state representative who was recently elected Ann Arbor's next mayor.

"This is not just going to have an impact on the people of Saline Township.

It is going to have an impact on everybody in Washtenaw County," Rabhi said. "You are granting a multibillion-dollar corporation a tax abatement that they do not need. We do not need to be in the business, here in Saline Township, or anywhere, of making the wealthy wealthier." Andy Melichar, a Ypsilanti Township resident who works in the data center industry and has become a prominent critic of local AI computing projects, also weighed in.

"The way that (Oracle) is just rolling over townships ... it's crazy," Melichar said.

The project, informally called the Saline Barn, has faced sustained resistance from residents over farmland, water use, noise, traffic and power costs.

Critics have faulted the township's process for limited transparency, scant public input and the decision to settle Related Digital's lawsuit instead of continuing to fight the company's rezoning request.

"It's disappointing. It does seem like something shady is happening," said Courtney Brady of Ypsilanti Township after the meeting.

Jobs and Revenue Figures Cited by Backers

Officials from OpenAI and Oracle project the development will support more than 2,500 union construction jobs and more than 450 permanent jobs once the center is operating. The township is expected to receive roughly USD 1.6 million annually through 2039, with millions more flowing to local schools.

National Fight Frames Local Decision

The vote in Saline Township unfolded as opposition to data centers has spread nationwide, with some communities imposing moratoriums or rejecting projects outright.

This month's midterm elections shifted the regulatory landscape further against the AI buildout: incoming governors in Ohio, Georgia, Michigan, New Mexico and Texas campaigned on pledges to halt or pause data center construction statewide.

President Donald Trump, who supports AI data centers, is backing a bipartisan energy bill in Congress that would accelerate approvals for new power plants and transmission lines while requiring large data center operators to cover more of the grid upgrade costs needed to serve them.

"Remember, China will take any Data Center that we don't want, and pay lots of money for it," Trump said in supporting the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act and urging the Senate to pass it. With the unanimous votes, Saline Township's local approvals for the Oracle project stand, though the development remains a source of conflict for residents across Washtenaw County.