OregonLive readers reacted quickly to a story posted Monday morning outlining how out-of-state companies are building data centers in Hillsboro, attracted by massive property tax breaks.

In return, the data centers pledge to create jobs, but one company only reported having one permanent, full-time employee as of April 2014, according to the Oregon Department of Revenue. That company, Infomart Portland, saved $775,000 in property taxes in the 2013-14 tax year. Other data centers reported as few as two such workers and also received large tax breaks.

The savings are due to the state's enterprise zone program, which allows Oregon cities to offer property tax relief for up to five years to businesses that bring new facilities, equipment and employment to the zone. But data centers - which advocates say provide essential infrastructure to the tech community, indirectly create more jobs and don't impede on city services - are not big employers.

The story posted this morning provides more background information and an interactive chart showing job creation in Hillsboro's enterprise zone.

Here is a sampling of the many comments posted by readers in the span of a few hours (comments have been lightly edited for clarity):

"They do not produce a lot of direct jobs; however, what wasn't mentioned [in the story] was the other jobs involved with construction and operation of the facilities," wrote commenter

"This is a typical suckers' deal if you understand how tech works," wrote

"[Data centers are] businesses that purchase goods and services from nearby, existing high-tech electronics firms and provide data storage services to others throughout the region," wrote

Happy Debater

What do you think about the story? Join the conversation in the comments section below.

-- Luke Hammill

lhammill@oregonian.com

503-294-4029

@HlsboroReporter