Following the Saline Township Board of Trustees’ decision to sign off on a property tax abatement for a controversial hyperscale data center under development by Oracle, OpenAI and Related Digital, one resident and her attorney are calling on the Michigan State Tax Commission to deny the request.
In a letter to the commission submitted on Wednesday, Kathryn Haushalter of Saline Township and Ellis Boal, an attorney from Charlevoix, said the $43 billion project is ineligible for the tax break, arguing that the township did not take steps needed to ensure the area was eligible for a tax exemption.
Speaking to reporters at a Thursday press conference, Boal said Saline Township did not hold a public hearing prior to establishing the project site as an “industrial development district,” violating The Plant Rehabilitation and Industrial Development Districts Act.
By missing that crucial step, Boal and Haushalter argued that the community did not actually create an industrial development district, leaving Oracle Cloud Services LLC unable to file for an Industrial Facilities Exemption Certificate requesting the tax exemption.
“They have to go in that order,” Boal said. “The IDD has to be established first, and the IFEC, the exemption certificate, then has to be filed.”
While the township board posted a notice for a public hearing on the matter set for Sept. 10, 2025, they never actually held that hearing, Boal contended, noting it was set for the same date and time as a township board meeting.
Boal also pointed to comments from the township’s attorney, Fred Lucas, from a video of the meeting.
After the board declined to rezone the property for the data center, Lucas told members there was no longer a need to hold the hearing on the tax abatement, as they had already denied zoning for the project.
When asked for a comment, Lucas directed Michigan Advance to another attorney, Michael Homier of the Foster Swift firm, who is assisting the township with legal matters tied to the data center.
Homier said he was unable to comment, as he had not been provided with a copy of the letter, or any of the exhibits Boal referenced.
“To my knowledge the township didn’t receive a copy,” Homier said.
A list of recipients at the bottom of the letter did not include any members of the Saline Township Board of Trustees.
Township Supervisor Tom Hammond and Oracle did not respond to requests for comment. This story will be updated if a response is received.
Under threat of legal action, the board agreed to move forward with rezoning. Boal’s letter also noted a provision in the settlement that required the township to complete a public hearing and establish an industrial development district.
On Oct. 15, 2025, the board approved a resolution establishing the Industrial Development District.
“The next question was: ‘Could they have a public hearing right now?” No, they cannot,” Boal said, adding that Industrial Facilities Exemption Certificate applicants cannot begin construction more than six months prior to filing an application.
A copy of Oracle’s Industrial Facilities Exemption Certificate Application provided by Boal lists the “start date of property improvements” as Feb. 6 2026.
