Madison County residents were promised that Amazon's new data centers in Canton would bring millions of tax dollars to local schools and county services. Now that the bill has come due, Amazon Web Services is fighting to pay far less than the county says it owes.

The county's tax assessor values each of Amazon's five data center buildings at $292 million. Amazon claims each one is worth only $69 million, a gap that would cut $5 million to $6 million out of next year's school and county budget, down from an expected payment of more than $28 million. The Madison County Board of Supervisors reviewed the dispute and sided with the assessor, but Amazon can still take the fight to Circuit Court.

The assessor's office says Amazon built these facilities with specialized electrical, cooling, and structural systems that go far beyond a standard commercial building, which is part of why the county's valuation is so much higher. Yet when asked to share the actual cost of construction, Amazon refused, saying it was company policy not to release that information because it "may put Amazon at a competitive disadvantage," according to Amazon representative James Polianski. Local taxpayers don't get that same privilege of hiding their numbers from the county.

This isn't a one-time dispute. Amazon plans to build 34 more data centers in Madison County in the coming years. If this valuation fight isn't settled fairly now, every future project could see the same pattern repeat, at far greater cost to schools and services residents were told to expect.

Sign the petition to demand Amazon drop its tax appeal and pay Madison County's full assessed value, before the next 34 data centers put even more school funding at risk.