PHOTO: A standard computer server farm in use at a U.S. military base. (From Server farm (Wikipedia) accessed Feb. 29, 2012)
The editorial by Hasso Hering, "A case for ending the property tax," Gazette-Times, Feb. 26, 2012, p. D4 is a good example of how a tax break for one industry can have a negative effect on something else in society. Below is my letter to the editor in response to the editorial:
Hasso Hering's Feb, 26 editorial, "A case for ending the property tax" by replacing it with a sales tax, is a good idea, but it might also jeopardize Oregon's burgeoning industry of computer server farms being built by Google, Facebook, etc.
Every dotcom is sanctimoniously publicizing their move to Oregon as a way to help the environment by using renewable and inexpensive hydroelectric power that was abandoned by the aluminum industry.
In fact, their biggest reason is that other states want to collect a sales tax on every internet transaction. Oregon is sales tax-free.
Will Oregon pander to server farms as North Dakota has to credit card providers? Banks exploited North Dakota's generosity. I pray that dotcoms will "do no evil" as Google's corporate objectives aspire to.
Thomas Kraemer
(Quoted from Thomas Kraemer, "A good idea, but...," Gazette-Times, Mar. 3, 2012, p. D5)
