Tuesday, September 29, 2026
Microsoft forgoes $5 million; Mount Pleasant to reinvest funds
Ricardo Torres
Microsoft is telling the Village of Mount Pleasant to keep a $5 million development incentive.
The company and the village made the announcement on Sept. 28, saying the funds would be "redirected" back to the Mount Pleasant and the Racine Economic Development Corp.
The village plans to keep $4.9 million the redevelopment agency plans to receive $100,000 for "county-wide economic development initiatives."
Mount Pleasant officials plant to use use this money to keep tax bills stable by reducing the tax levy in 2027 while maintaining village services and cover capital project costs like rebuilding roads or buying police and fire vehicles.
“Taxpayers will benefit immediately, and will continue to benefit for years to come, because of the data centers Microsoft is building,” Mount Pleasant village president David DeGroot said in a statement. “This directly supports our residents at tax time, which has always been the Village Board’s ultimate goal as it seeks balanced growth.”
Mount Pleasant's tax levy in the 2026 adopted budget is $26,498,230.
Jenny Trick, executive director of the redevelopment agency, said the $100,000 "will expand our capacity to drive economic growth and create new opportunities throughout Racine County."
Microsoft has already completed its first hyper-scale data center in the village and a second is currently under construction.
"When we announced that we would build a datacenter campus in the Village of Mount Pleasant in 2023, we made it clear that the community should benefit from our presence," Brad Smith, vice chair and president of Microsoft, said in a statement. "We will continue to invest in delivering on that promise with economic opportunity, local careers, tax revenue, and more."
According to the development agreement approved in 2023, Microsoft is eligible for up to $5 million as a "development incentive" if the company has created a certain level of property value.
The $5 million incentive comes from tax incremental district number 5, which was set up in 2017 to accommodate the Foxconn Technology Group development before Microsoft bought the site originally assembled for Foxconn.
In July, Microsoft reported a quarterly earnings profit of more than $35.8 billion. For all of 2025, Microsoft had a profit of $101 billion.
Mount Pleasant has approved for up to 15 data centers to be built in the village by Microsoft. The company has more than 550 workers at its facility in the village.
Microsoft using transparency, money to buy good will
Around the country, data centers have received bipartisan pushback from residents opposed to these developments coming to their communities.
Microsoft has not been immune to the outrage from local residents and last October the company pulled its plans for a data center in Caledonia, also in Racine County.
Microsoft has tried several different strategies to ease the local criticism of data centers including ending its use of non-disclosure agreements with local municipalities.
In an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel back in January, Smith said the company recognizes the concerns people have for these developments.
“I think we’re at a cultural pivot point because to bring people along, to get comfortable being more transparent, to be comfortable having conversations about questions to which we don’t yet know the answer – requires a different approach,” Smith said. “As an industry, we need a cultural change to raise the bar on ourselves and to be more comfortable being transparent.”
Monday, September 28, 2026
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Saturday, September 26, 2026
7 cats dead in storage tote
Friday, September 25, 2026
Democratic candidate Jung faces probe into campaigning on city time
From JSOnline:
Ricardo TorresTrevor Jung, the City of Racine transit director and Democratic candidate for state Senate, is under investigation by the Racine County District Attorney's office over an allegation he had campaigned on city time.
Racine County District Attorney Tricia Hanson confirmed the investigation, saying the allegation came from a resident on Sept. 23 and she forwarded it to a law enforcement agency to do an investigation.
“Right now, it’s just that, an allegation,” Hanson said to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “It’s very preliminary. Someone has said ‘I think this is a problem.’ They are a resident of Racine County and they have a right to complain. I forwarded it on. We’ll see if there’s something there. I have no idea.”
Hanson said the Racine County Sheriff’s Office is determining which agency should investigate the allegation.
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| Trevor Jung |
“I don’t have any investigators,” Hanson said.
Hanson said her office has not reached out to the city or Racine Mayor Cory Mason’s office.
Mason's office declined to comment on the investigation.
In a statement Jung said:
“Last week, when Republicans made this false, ridiculous claim, the City of Racine rejected the assertion, confirming that I am not campaigning while working. Our campaign has been focused on the issues that matter most to the people of Southeastern Wisconsin. The people of Racine and the 21st have been and remain my sole priority, and the lies and distractions of Republican attacks won’t change that.”
The Committee to Elect a Republican Senate has been alleging Jung campaigned on city time and filed a records request involving his work schedule.
“The completed records request and social media posts point to an alarming truth: Trevor Jung is taking advantage of taxpayers while seeking a promotion,” Leah Peterson, communications director for the Committee to Elect a Republican Senate, said in early September.
Wisconsin State Senate Democratic Committee communications director Will Karcz said in a statement, "Wisconsin Republicans are resorting to outright lies."
"When Republicans tried to make this a story two weeks ago, the City of Racine made it clear that there were zero improprieties. This Republican DA has decided to weaponize her office to attack a political opponent. This Trump-style tactic hasn’t worked in DC, and it won’t work in Racine.”
Jung told the Journal Sentinel in September that he would take an unpaid leave of absence from his city job starting Oct. 1 through Election Day.
Jung is running in Senate District 21 against Republican candidate Jim Croft. The seat has been held by Republican Van Wanggaard, who is decided not to run for re-election after being elected in 2015. The race is considered one of several key contests to determine which party controls the Senate next year.
The investigation was first reported by the conservative website The Heartland Post.
(This story was updated to add new information.)
Democratic candidate Jung faces probe into campaigning on city time
USA Today Network
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Trevor Jung, transit and mobility director for the City of Racine, is running as a Democrat for a competitive seat in state Senate District 21. |
Trevor Jung, the City of Racine transit director and Democratic candidate for state Senate, is under investigation by the Racine County District Attorney's office over an allegation he had campaigned on city time.
Racine County District Attorney Tricia Hanson confirmed the investigation, saying the allegation came from a resident on Sept. 23 and she forwarded it to a law enforcement agency to do an investigation.
“Right now, it’s just that, an allegation,” Hanson said to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “It’s very preliminary. Someone has said ‘I think this is a problem.’ They are a resident of Racine County and they have a right to complain. I forwarded it on. We’ll see if there’s something there. I have no idea.”
Hanson said the Racine County Sheriff’s Office is determining which agency should investigate the allegation.
“I don’t have any investigators,” Hanson said.
Hanson said her office has not reached out to the city or Racine Mayor Cory Mason’s office.
Mason's office declined to comment on the investigation.
The Committee to Elect a Republican Senate has been alleging Jung campaigned on city time and filed a records request involving his work schedule.
Jung has previously denied those allegations saying:
“I have not, do not, and will not campaign while on City time,” Jung said in a statement to the Journal Sentinel in early September, adding that any campaign related events are done outside of work time or during his unpaid lunch break.
“My campaign staff know that once that [lunch] hour is up, I'll be unavailable until the working day is over,” Jung said.
Jung told the Journal Sentinel in September that he would take an unpaid leave of absence from his city job starting Oct. 1 through Election Day.
Jung is running in Senate District 21 against Republican candidate Jim Croft. The seat has been held by Republican Van Wanggaard, who is decided not to run for re-election after being elected in 2015. The race is considered one of several key contests to determine which party controls the Senate next year.
Jung has not responded to a request for comment.
The investigation was first reported by the conservative website The Heartland Post.
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