A bill intended to rein in redevelopment agencies was approved Friday by the Senate, but not before being amended to extend its effective date.

The sponsor of SB184, Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo, unsuccessfully fought an amendment changing the bill's effective date from Feb. 15 to Feb. 24, 2005, a move that he said could allow as many as 14 new RDAs to be created.

The bill, approved unanimously as amended, now goes to the House. Bramble said the bill's effective date could be moved back there, even though "the issue of date is not nearly so important as the policy."

He said there have been abuses by communities using the tax-deferment tool to encourage development. In its original form, the bill would have disallowed using any RDA dollars for retail development, but the substitute measure will now simply put a year moratorium on retail RDA projects.

"I'm seeing prime commercial ground that would be developed regardless of RDAs, and we turn around and give developers the tax increment. Why are we doing that?" Bramble said. In the past, several school districts have objected to the tax revenues they have lost to RDA developments.

Bramble's bill still specifically bans the use of RDA funds for recreation centers, including soccer stadiums. A newly added provision also prohibits the use of eminent domain to acquire property unless the land is already owned by redevelopment agency members.

"The powers of eminent domain simply should not be used when we're talking about private development," Bramble said.

His substitute bill, supported by the Utah League of Cities and Towns as well as various public education groups, originally would have halted any RDA project not under way by Feb. 15. But Sen. Bill Hickman, R-St. George, asked that the date be moved to Feb. 24 because of a project to repair damage done to the St. George sewer system by the recent floods.

Other lawmakers, including Sen. Dave Thomas, R-South Weber, and Sen. Greg Bell, R-Fruit Heights, also supported the change in effective date because of RDA projects getting under way in communities that they represent.

Bramble said 14 cities have proposed new RDAs since his bill surfaced with the Feb. 15 deadline. Both Holladay and Taylorsville city leaders initiated RDA study areas this week in hopes of making the cut-off for retail projects, although city officials in both areas said the projects were in the works before Bramble's bill was written.

"That is simply untenable," Bramble said. "This is a run on the bank. This is a run on the public education bank."

Hickman suggested that argument wasn't fair. "We're being treated as doing something that's dishonorable. That's not the case," he said. "We don't have our hands at the throat of public education because we might want to take care of a few special issues."