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Case File · OpenIslandBoyz

Island Boyz

How a Utah data-center boomtown's growth playbook — and the two city managers who ran it — landed in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

The short version

Eagle Mountain, Utah spent the last decade turning itself into one of the West's densest data-center clusters — Meta anchoring a run of campuses.6, 7, 8, 9 The economic-development official who helped court that growth, Ifo Pili, left in 2020 to run Las Cruces as city manager, and his deputy Ikani Taumoepeau came with him.2, 5 Pili has since moved on; Taumoepeau now runs Las Cruces.3, 4, 5 Meanwhile the Las Cruces / Doña Ana County region is courting its own wave of data centers,12, 13, 14 and back in Eagle Mountain the bill has started to arrive: an approved 183% property-tax rate increase in August 2026 — the city's first hike in 14 years.10, 11 This file traces the connections and marks what's proven versus what's still an open question.

Read the sources ↓All cases →
183%
Eagle Mountain property-tax rate increase approved, Aug 2026 (220.88% originally proposed)
sources 10–11
~$5.5M
New annual revenue from that hike — the city's first property-tax increase in 14 years
source 10
Meta +
Anchor campus plus later approvals — Google, QTS, Tract's 400 MW park and more clustered in Eagle Mountain
sources 6–9
2020
Year Pili & Taumoepeau relocated Eagle Mountain → Las Cruces city government
sources 2, 5

The players

Two managers, one route south

The through-line between the two cities isn't a company — it's two people. Both are public officials; everything below is from the public record.

Ifo Pili

Left LC · now West Valley

Ex-BYU & NFL (Philadelphia Eagles) → Eagle Mountain → Las Cruces → West Valley City

  • Spent about six years as Eagle Mountain's assistant city administrator and economic-development coordinator, then became city administrator.1
  • Hired as Las Cruces City Manager, starting in 2020.2
  • Resigned from Las Cruces,3 and took over as city manager of West Valley City, Utah in 2024.4

Ikani Taumoepeau

Current LC City Manager

Eagle Mountain → Las Cruces (assistant → top job)

  • Followed Pili from Eagle Mountain, Utah in 2020, joining Las Cruces as assistant city manager.5
  • Promoted to Las Cruces City Manager on April 11, 2024, on a three-year contract.5
  • On succeeding his old boss, told the Sun-News: “I'm not going to try to be Ifo.”5

The money trail

Two cities, one timeline

Blue markers are Eagle Mountain, Utah. Orange markers are Las Cruces / Doña Ana County, New Mexico.

  • 2012Eagle Mtn

    After ~6 years running economic development, Ifo Pili becomes Eagle Mountain's city administrator — the seat from which the city's data-center recruitment ran.1

  • 2018–2021Eagle Mtn

    Eagle Mountain lands Meta's data-center campus and keeps stacking approvals — a second major center by 2021, then Google, QTS, and Tract's 400 MW park.6, 7, 8

  • 2020Las Cruces

    Pili is hired as Las Cruces City Manager; Ikani Taumoepeau follows him from Eagle Mountain into the assistant city manager role.2, 5

  • 2023–24Las Cruces

    Pili resigns as Las Cruces City Manager;3 on April 11, 2024, Taumoepeau is promoted to the top job on a three-year contract.5

  • 2025–26Doña Ana

    The Las Cruces / Doña Ana County region courts data centers hard: MVEDA markets the region to operators, county commissioners green-light the $165B Project Jupiter campus near Santa Teresa (Sept 2025), and Oracle announces a Doña Ana County site.12, 13, 14

  • Aug 2026Eagle Mtn

    Back in Eagle Mountain, the council approves a 183% property-tax rate increase (down from a proposed 220.88%) — its first in 14 years — officially to fund seven new sheriff's deputies for the fast-growing city.10, 11

Keeping it honest

What's proven vs. what we're still asking

✔ Documented

  • Pili and Taumoepeau both came to Las Cruces government from Eagle Mountain in 2020.2, 5
  • Pili ran economic development / administration in Eagle Mountain during its data-center build-out.1, 6
  • Eagle Mountain hosts a dense cluster of data-center campuses.6, 7, 8, 9
  • Eagle Mountain approved a 183% property-tax hike in Aug 2026.10, 11
  • The Doña Ana County region is actively recruiting data centers.12, 13, 14

? Open questions

  • Eagle Mountain frames its tax hike as public-safety funding, not data centers — but did rapid data-center-driven growth create that public-safety demand? Records to pull.
  • What specific incentives, water, or power commitments has Las Cruces / Doña Ana offered data-center operators, and who negotiated them?
  • Did the Eagle Mountain playbook (tax structures, utility deals) travel directly into Las Cruces policy?
  • Does Las Cruces face the same downstream tax, water, and grid pressures Eagle Mountain is now absorbing?
How to read this file. Everything stated as fact is sourced below and concerns public officials acting in their public capacity. The satirical “Island Boyz” framing is commentary on public conduct, not the private lives of any individuals. Open questions are labeled as questions, not conclusions. Corrections and records tips are welcome.

Sources

The public record

  1. Salt Lake Tribune — “Ifo Pili, former Philadelphia Eagle, named as Eagle Mountain’s new city administrator” — https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=53903727&itype=cmsid
  2. Las Cruces Bulletin — “Ifo Pili Begins Work as New City Manager” — https://www.lascrucesbulletin.com/stories/ifo-pili-begins-work-as-new-city-manager,4772
  3. Las Cruces Bulletin — “City Manager Ifo Pili resigning from Las Cruces” — https://www.lascrucesbulletin.com/stories/city-manager-ifo-pili-resigning-from-las-cruces,73434
  4. FOX 13 — “Former NFL player kicks off time as West Valley City’s new city manager” — https://www.fox13now.com/news/politics/city-manager-with-nfl-ties-kicks-off-time-in-west-valley-city
  5. Las Cruces Sun-News (via Yahoo) — “Foundations have been built.’ Ikani Taumoepeau looks to Las Cruces’ future” — https://www.yahoo.com/news/foundations-built-ikani-taumoepeau-looks-110156572.html
  6. Meta — Eagle Mountain Data Center (official facility page) — https://datacenters.atmeta.com/asset/eagle-mountain-data-center-sheet/
  7. Herald Extra — “Utah County Commission signs agreement for second Eagle Mountain data center” (2021) — https://www.heraldextra.com/news/2021/may/27/utah-county-commission-signs-agreement-for-second-eagle-mountain-data-center/
  8. Data Center Dynamics — “Tract plans 400MW data center park in Eagle Mountain, Utah” — https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/tract-plans-400mw-data-center-park-in-eagle-mountain-utah/
  9. Utah News Dispatch — “Eagle Mountain 193-acre data center campus … big water promises” (Apr 2026) — https://utahnewsdispatch.com/2026/04/17/eagle-mountain-193-acre-data-center-campus-is-set-to-be-done-this-year-with-big-water-promises/
  10. FOX 13 — “183% property tax increase approved by Eagle Mountain City Council” (Aug 2026) — https://www.fox13now.com/news/local-news/utah-county/183-property-tax-increase-approved-by-eagle-mountain-city-council
  11. Herald Extra — “Eagle Mountain City Council approves 183% rate increase to property taxes” (Aug 2026) — https://www.heraldextra.com/news/2026/aug/07/eagle-mountain-city-council-approves-183-rate-increase-to-property-taxes/
  12. MVEDA (Mesilla Valley Economic Development Alliance) — Data Center recruitment — https://www.mveda.com/data-center/
  13. El Paso Matters — “$165 billion Project Jupiter data center near El Paso to move forward” (Doña Ana Commissioners, Sept 2025) — https://elpasomatters.org/2025/09/19/project-jupiter-data-center-santa-teresa-approved-dona-ana-commissioners/
  14. Oracle — “Oracle Advances American AI Innovation … in New Mexico” (Doña Ana County, Jan 2026) — https://www.oracle.com/news/announcement/blog/oracle-advances-american-ai-innovation-in-new-mexico-2026-01-23/