Escalation: Port Washington Passes Historic Data Center

Port Washington voters approved an ordinance by referendum Tuesday, 66 percent to 34 percent. It requires any future tax‑increment district with project costs or a base value of $10 million or more to win voter approval before it can take effect. A tax‑increment district lets the city pay for project work upfront and cover it with future property tax growth.

It shifts final say on large subsidies from the Common Council to voters. It does not reopen the already approved Vantage Data Centers campus, which prompted the referendum after the city created a financing district for the $15 billion project. Future proposals above the threshold now need a citywide vote.

Residents put the measure on the ballot with more than 1,000 petition signatures. It passed 2,710 to 1,371, with more than half of the city’s 8,257 registered voters casting ballots. The Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce has already sued to block the change.

AI-synthesized from multiple reported sources