Ohio leadership has for some time been promising improvements in employment opportunities for Buckeye State residents.

What we got — in droves — are data centers, which don’t check many of the boxes when it comes to benefiting residents.

Policy Matters Ohio took a look at all those data centers and what they mean for the state. There are more questions than answers. According to a report by the Ohio Capital Journal, data centers could be costing the state a lot of money, particularly when one compares the tax revenue given up with the number of jobs created.

“If the investments announced by Amazon, Google, and Microsoft in the past two years are all covered by the tax break, the state and localities could lose out on almost $1.6 billion in sales-tax revenue, with only modest job-creation to show for it,” Policy Matters wrote.

Tax breaks can be a useful tool for luring companies that truly do intend to employ large numbers residents. But it’s fair to ask whether the companies even need tax breaks, let alone whether they are providing anything close to the job numbers politicians are throwing around.

Perhaps it’s time to rethink our priorities and focus on economic development initiatives that benefit Ohioans first.