County Board Law & Legal Committee Passes Resolution for Moratorium on Data Centers in County
Resolution Moves to Full Board at Aug. 19 Meeting
At Monday's monthly meeting of the McDonough County Board's Law & Legal Committee, members voted 6-1 on a resolution that would place a temporary moratorium on any data center and high-impact technology facilities in the county until August 2028. The resolution moves to the full board for consideration at its Aug. 19 meeting.
The resolution was originally on the July Law & Legal agenda; however, it was tabled until McDonough County State's Attorney Matt Kwacala could weigh in on the measure. Board Member and Law & Legal Committee Member Ken Durkin brought the resolution forward.
'Illinois is experiencing a lot of growth in that area and the state government has yet to pass any regulations that would safeguard local communities from the potential of experiencing significant hardships to their local resources, including water, power grid, land, noise, etc. Concerns throughout the state were significant enough that Gov.
Pritzker paused the state’s data center tax incentive program in June 2026,' Durkin told The Community News Brief.
'With that backdrop, I felt it was important for the Board to consider this issue and hopefully establish the position that McDonough County is not ready to entertain any data center facilities within McDonough County for at least the next two years. The moratorium would allow time for the state to pass regulations that could grant the county the authority to establish appropriate ordinances. Yes, there are positive outcomes, mainly financial, but all potential outcomes must be identified and safeguards established so that McDonough County residents can be assured that the best decisions are being made on their behalf.'
Voting in favor of the resolution included Clayton Cook, Ken Durkin, Joe Erlandson, Travis Hiel, Riley Smith and Roger Ward. Ryan Litchfield cast the lone 'no' vote.
'Why oppose this in the first place? If a company wants to come in and pay millions in property taxes and provide jobs, why would we oppose this?,' Litchfield told the committee prior to the vote. 'Such massive projects won't even happen without the infrastructure in place, so I don't know why we're fussing about it.'
Cook, Ward and other committee members noted that having a resolution in place allows for discussion with a company because without it, someone could come in and do whatever they want, they stressed Having a resolution in place safeguards the county, members added.
'Our grid is not ready for this, and a project like this will not provide jobs, that is a fallacy,' Durkin said in rebuttal to Litchfield's comments 'This is about having all of the information in hand before something would happen, not after when it's too late to do anything about it.'
The recommendation was made to add an amendment at the full Board meeting later this month that states despite a resolution, the county could be open to discussion. Board member Dana Walker also spoke during public comments, stating he prefers a shorter moratorium, such as one year.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker has proposed a statewide pause on data center tax incentives as of July 2026 to evaluate their impact on the power grid and utility costs for local residents. According to the resolution, under the Counties Code (55ILCS 5/), counties have the authority to regulate the siting of certain industrial facilities and to protect public health and safety through ordinances and agreements. There has also been a rapid increase in interest for the development of large-scale data centers in Illinois, which use significant amounts of electricity, water and other supporting resources.
If the temporary moratorium passes the full County Board, no siting permits or other agreements of authority to construct any data center or high-impact technology facility will be issued by McDonough County under its existing ordinances or any other laws prior to August 19, 2028.
While the county's moratorium does not apply within Macomb city limits, according to City Administrator Scott Coker, individuals/ entities interested in establishing a data center within the community must go through a special use process, which prohibits commercial development outside of specific zoning areas within the city. To date, Coker said the city has not received an application specifically for a data center, only solar and/or battery storage at this time.
