Tax Assessor Wants Google To Pay Property Taxes Even Though New Facility Will Be on Federal Land
We’ve blogged several items about the new Googleplex and Google/NASA relationship that’s we be built on NASA Ames property in Mountain View. One story even has Google’s Peter Norvig saying that he woild love to see Google Mars and Google Moon. Note to Peter: Google already has these “space” domains already registered.
So, why am I mentioning the Google/NASA story again? Property taxes, that’s why?
According to a San Jose Mercury News article: Assessor will try to make Google pay property taxes, the Santa Clara County Assessor wants Google to still pay property taxes even though NASA Ames is located on federal propery.
As part of the deal, Google plans to build hundreds of new homes and carve out roads on a stretch of the 213-acre research campus. In 2002, Mountain View cleared the research park’s bid for 4.2 million square feet of new construction, including up to 2,000 homes for any new tenant. “Obviously if they are building enough housing for workers, that’s wonderful,” said Mountain View City Councilman Greg Perry. But Perry was wistful that the company decided to duck inside the federal borders and deny the city property tax revenue. By building on federal land, Google would avoid potentially millions of dollars in annual property taxes.
Of course, many are thrilled by Google’s recent announcement. However, Lee Stone, a negotiator for Ames Federal Employees Union, is not so sure about the deal to bring Google to Ames.
“I fear this could be just about a real estate deal and avoiding the regulatory problems of building in the Bay Area and a moneymaking deal for Ames,” Stone said. “Unless there’s a bona fide intellectual interaction between the government and Google, then I would be disappointed.”