Loudoun County's budget managers are considering setting up a revenue stabilization fund to reduce the county's reliance on tax revenue generated by data centers.

The proposed fund could see more than $70 million set aside to protect the government's finances against unanticipated dips in tax revenue.

Half of Virginia's Loudoun County tax base is made up of data center revenue, meaning changes in the market have a significant impact on the area.

The county has experienced difficulties in predicting revenues in the last couple of years.

Last year it overestimated its funding when upgrades to data center equipment progressed more slowly than expected primarily due to grid challenges, and this year's more conservative estimate proved to be lower than reality, with county administrator Tim Himstreet telling the board that the county was going to over-collect by "a lot" this year.

The suggested stability fund would separate around 10 percent of real estate and personal property tax revenue related to data centers in a separate account, which can be dipped into when taxes fall below projections.

The fund will initially be around $73 million, though this is expected to expand to $80-85m in the coming years. Whenever money is used from the fund, the county will have three years to replenish it.

The proposal is set to go to the full board for action.

Virginia is home to the largest data center market in the world, with a particularly high density of data centers in the Loudoun, Prince William, Fairfax, and Ashburn counties.