The Saline Township Board stood up for its residents in a big way on July 14, 2026. Rather than allow an enormous company to pillage the people and tax rolls of the township, they stood up to a company that had already bullied its way into our community by voting to hold them accountable to the property valuation they submitted in their original application, rather than extending the abatement to the current valuation which is ten times higher.

By taking this stand, however, they now face potential legal challenges and costs from the developer, and while we are lining up assistance from pro bono legal experts, they will inevitably face short-term and hard costs (e.g. filing fees, potential damages, etc.) - so we want to help them cover those costs without going over budget or having to levy new taxes on residents.

Although I live on the dividing line between the two townships, I pay property taxes to York Township rather than Saline, so at the July 14th meeting I pledged $1,000 towards their legal costs if they stand up and fight for our community. Several other members of the community, including one Washtenaw County Commissioner, agreed to contribute additional funds to the cause, so this GoFundMe represents an opportunity for both our local community members, and anyone else concerned about this fight, to pool our efforts in helping support the Saline Township Board.

Additional Background

In 2025, the data center developer Related Digital applied to build a new hyperscale AI data center ("Stargate") in Saline Township, Michigan, and the board voted no, only to be sued immediately by the developer. Not wanting to subject its residents to a protracted and expensive legal battle, the Board entered into a consent agreement with the developer, one which, among many other provisions, reserved a 12-year 50% property tax abatement for the new data center through Michigan's Industrial Facilities Exemption Certificate (IFEC) program.

However, that original application was based upon a valuation of $4.8 billion, whereas the developer now values the site in excess of $43 billion and intended to seek a 50% tax abatement respective to that new valuation. Furthermore, whereas most IFEC agreements contain extensive claw back provisions surrounding a guaranteed number of jobs that the company intends to bring to the area, not to mention a tacit agreement to continue operating and paying taxes for the full extent of the abatement period, the agreement between Related Digital and the Saline Township Board contained no such provisions.

While many residents, the organizer of this GoFundMe included, still hold out hope that there remains a way to stop the developer and data center altogether, fellow community members and I communicated extensively with the members of the Saline Township Board to not only encourage them to grant an abatement limited to the original valuation, request the addition of claw back provisions, and obtain additional legal counsel from legal professionals specializing in similar hyperscale data center contracts should they decide to proceed with the abatement.

The members of the Saline Township Board displayed immense courage in standing up against very immense legal threats, so let's show them that when elected leaders put their neck out for their constituents there are plenty of Americans left who recognize that courage and are willing to support them in that stand!