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Effingham County, Georgia is getting a tax break, all thanks to a new data center. Effingham County announced Aug. 24, 2026 that it is preparing for the largest property tax reduction in its history, “made possible through the success of Project Camellia” — the codename for OpenAI’s data center project — in partnership with the Effingham County Industrial Development Authority — Effingham County, Georgia (official press release)
The school board voted unanimously this morning to cut its millage rate to sixteen point four five mills — two full mills below last year. The Effingham County Board of Education voted unanimously at a special called meeting Monday, Aug. 31, 2026 to lower its fiscal 2027 millage rate to 16.45 mills, using tax-relief money generated by the sale of land for the proposed OpenAI data center; the district charged 18.45 mills last year — Effingham Herald
That’s about two hundred forty dollars off the annual bill on a three-hundred-thousand-dollar home. A school district chart comparing school property taxes shows a home valued at $300,000 owing $2,214.00 under last year’s 18.45-mill rate and $1,974.00 under the 16.45-mill rate approved Monday, a difference of $240.00 — Effingham Herald
Commissioners take up another two mills tomorrow. The Effingham County Board of Commissioners is expected to consider reducing its own millage rate by approximately 2 mills on Sept. 1, 2026 — Effingham Herald
Six mills all in — the largest cut in county history. The county states property owners could receive approximately 6 mills of combined tax relief this year and describes the package as the largest property tax reduction in Effingham County history — Effingham County, Georgia (official press release)
The development authority sold fourteen hundred acres at the Savannah Gateway Industrial Hub for OpenAI’s twenty-billion-dollar campus and walked away with about three hundred fifty million dollars. ECIDA CEO Brandt Herndon said at the authority’s Aug. 20 meeting that its public funds increased by about $350 million following the sale of the property to Octans Ga. LLC, the listed developer for Project Camellia, OpenAI’s proposed $20 billion data center campus covering about 1,400 acres at the Savannah Gateway Industrial Hub in Rincon — Effingham Herald
It’s sending thirty million a year back to the county and suspending its own two-mill levy. Under the plan announced Aug. 24, ECIDA will provide $30 million annually to the county for three years, or $90 million total, with approximately 2 mills of that funding used to reduce the school district’s millage rate, and will also suspend its own 2-mill property tax levy for the duration of OpenAI’s 15-year tax abatement agreement — Effingham Herald
Under the contract state regulators approved, OpenAI pays the full cost of the transmission lines and substations needed to serve the site. Georgia Power announced Aug. 26, 2026 that its contract to serve OpenAI’s Effingham County project cleared the Georgia Public Service Commission regulatory process, and that under the agreement “OpenAI will pay the full cost of the infrastructure needed to serve it” — Georgia Power
Under the contract state regulators approved, OpenAI pays the full cost of the transmission lines and substations needed to serve the site. Georgia Power’s Aaron Peacock described the buildout required to serve the campus as “building substations, building transmission lines, infrastructure,” and the Herald reports that under the agreement OpenAI will pay the full cost of the infrastructure required to serve its project — Effingham Herald
It also committed up to a thousand megawatts of flexible demand, so Georgia Power can throttle the campus at peak instead of building more plants. The contract filed with the Georgia PSC includes 3,200 megawatts of new demand and a commitment of up to 1,000 MW of flexible demand response, “which enables Georgia Power to reduce energy delivered to the facility during periods of high demand and invest in fewer new generation resources to serve future growth” — Georgia Power
Two years ago that school district was raising rates to cover health insurance. The Aug. 20 rollback to 18.018 mills was the district’s first millage-rate reduction since 2024 and followed two consecutive years of millage-rate increases “driven largely by rising state-mandated employee health insurance costs” —