RALEIGH - An advocacy group opposed to using incentives to recruit industry on Wednesday filed a lawsuit challenging millions of dollars used to lure Google to Caldwell County.

The lawsuit, filed in Wake Superior Court by the N.C. Institute for Constitutional Law, alleges that tax credits and exemptions promised to Google violate the state constitution.

State lawmakers last year approved exemptions from retail sales and use taxes that could save Google, based in Mountain View, Calif., an estimated $90 million over 30 years in return for building a facility in Lenoir. The $600 million computer-data center could create up to 210 jobs with average annual salaries of $48,000.

The lawsuit, which names Gov. Mike Easley, Commerce Secretary Jim Fain and Google, claims the incentives discriminate among taxpayers and create a taxing scheme that is not uniform.

"The problem is twofold," said Dean Webster, the institute's executive director. "It involves special treatment for a single for-profit business ... and the government presumptuously is involved in making economic decisions it's not competent to make."

The institute filed a similar lawsuit in 2005, challenging about $280 million in state and local incentives used to attract a Dell computer plant to Winston-Salem. In May, a Wake Superior Court judge dismissed the case. The institute has appealed the decision to the N.C. Court of Appeals.

Webster said the latest lawsuit is different because it's more detailed and because lawmakers altered the state tax code, which is supposed to treat taxpayers in a uniform manner.

Officials had no immediate response. Easley spokeswoman Sondra Artis referred questions to Attorney General Roy Cooper. Cooper spokeswoman Noelle Talley said the lawsuit is being reviewed.

But Donny Hicks, president of the N.C. Economic Developers Association, said incentives are needed to lure companies being sought by other states.

"Incentives must continue to pay a strong role in helping us meet national and international competition for that investment," Hicks said in a statement.

Lenoir, about 70 miles northwest of Charlotte, has lost thousands of furniture and textile jobs. In May, the county had a 6.5 percent jobless rate, compared with 4.7 percent statewide.

Google said in a statement that the lawsuit "is without merit and we will defend against it vigorously." The company, which runs the world's most popular Internet search engine, expects to start hiring in December for 75 to 125 positions.

When state and local inducements are combined, Google could save $260 million over 30 years, depending on its investment in Lenoir. Google has announced plans to build five data centers, including one in South Carolina.

The institute filed the lawsuit on behalf of Michael Munger of Raleigh, chairman of Duke University's political science department, who is seeking the Libertarian Party's gubernatorial nomination next year; Barbara Howe, an Oxford resident who is chairwoman of the state Libertarian Party; and Mark Cares, a resident of Bear Creek.

Howe said the incentives discriminate against small businesses, which generally aren't offered government financial assistance.