Two Texas mayors, once coach and player, are clashing over who gets AI taxes, and who gets the noise

A proposed $10 billion AI data center outside Waco has become a major political fight in central Texas, and it has also split two mayors whose relationship goes back decades.

At the center of the dispute are Ross and Lacy Lakeview: one small town sits beside the planned site, while the other could reap a tax windfall even as nearby residents brace for more noise, traffic, and industrial development, according to Fortune.

What happened?

A proposed Infrakey AI data center campus on 520 acres of farmland near Ross has put Ross mayor Jim Jaska, 80, and Lacy Lakeview mayor Charles Wilson, 65, on opposite sides of the same development, even though Jaska once coached Wilson in football and baseball.

Because the site is right next to Ross, a town of about 200 people with limited municipal power, that community could end up living closest to the project's effects.

At the same time, Lacy Lakeview, about seven miles away, is seeking to annex the land and could collect up to $50 million a year in taxes if the project moves ahead.

For nearby residents, that imbalance is the central complaint. The people nearest the site would have to live with the consequences while having little say over what happens.

Jaska, whose family has worked neighboring land for decades, emphasized his ties to the area, saying, "I started raking and baling hay there when I was 10 years old."

He added that he is not opposed to data centers outright: "I just think there would be better places to put them."

Sara Mynarcik, a nearby landowner helping lead opposition to the proposal, said the scale of the development could alter surrounding farms and waterways.

"We're talking about concrete and asphalt, 21 buildings each the size of a Home Depot. The runoff will be tremendous," she said.

Why does it matter?

The dispute reflects a much larger issue unfolding across the country as AI companies race to build data centers that require enormous amounts of land, electricity, cooling, and water.

That infrastructure can strain the power grid, raise concerns about water use, increase local pollution and traffic, and potentially drive up utility costs if communities are left paying part of the price.

Local officials in Lacy Lakeview, meanwhile, see the proposal as a possible economic lifeline. Wilson said the city's sewer system is under pressure and that working with Infrakey could help fund needed upgrades.

He argued that if development is coming regardless, working with the company could at least produce public benefits.

Residents near the site, however, say Ross has little ability to stop or meaningfully shape the project, even though the people living closest to it may end up feeling the biggest effects.

What are people saying?

Wilson's position is direct: "It's tough love. Letting this thing go forward without a municipal partner is doing Ross no favors."

Jaska is not convinced by that argument.

"I don't do business that way," he said. "They say you might as well have your hands held out and get some benefits. But I'm not going to treat my neighbors that way."

Amy Gage, a newly sworn-in Lacy Lakeview city council member, also voiced concern about the proposal's impact, saying: "My fear is that the mayor sees this as a godsend and an answer to all their problems."

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