The company operating a Muskogee data center isn’t happy after city councilors voted to annex the unincorporated land it sits on in the John T. Griffin Industrial Park.

Last month the Muskogee City Council voted to move forward with annexing the unincorporated land where Polaris Technology Data Center operates in the John T. Griffin Industrial Park.

Polaris said annexation means they’ll have to pay millions in additional taxes they didn’t know about when they first moved to Muskogee.

The City said Polaris knew it was a part of the plan all along.

When Muskogee Mayor Patrick Cale and city councilors met on Monday, they approved plans for the annexation and are keeping a three percent franchise tax which will cost Polaris an additional $5 million per year.

After Monday night’s decision, Polaris said they will definitely have to consider what’s next because

Daniel Chepkauskas is the Legislative Director for C-Group Government Affairs and represents Polaris. He said of the move,

“My client Polaris Technologies has been in operation out there for over two years now, and so what we’re seeking to do is wanting the City to come to the table and basically negotiate a deal so that they’re not financially impacted in a way that prevents future goals from happening.”

Chepkauskas said he feels like the rules of the game are changing and, feels these decisions by the city councilors could be personal.

“We want them to be concerned with how this will financially impact our operations now and going forward because we still want to expand as a company here in Muskogee,” he said. “We want them to be concerned about that, understand where we’re coming from, and also recognize that there is a negotiation that can be had to where the City can do what they need to do as far as infrastructure improvements without hurting Polaris as a company in their future.”

That future includes their employees, like Site Manager Jonathan Denario. He said the company gave him new beginnings and he now fears he could lose his job.

“The employees Polaris, listen to the locals of Muskogee, who have heard us constantly saying, ‘Oh, we’re fine with the annexation, but we want this to be on a fair playing field,’” Denario said. “This three percent franchise fee is too much for us to pay. It is overwhelming the amount of money that could come and impact our business.”

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