RDA foes scrutinize projects for misuse of power, funding

They emerged from the legislative session limping and bruised, but winners nonetheless.

Now some cities are facing a new war against the use of redevelopment agency dollars, and their opponents are preparing for a lengthy fight.

"We plan on beating this drum until there's change," said Mike Jerman, vice president of the Utah Taxpayers Association. "We're convinced the RDAs that are currently being proposed would not be considered blight."

Top on the taxpayers' hit list: two RDA projects in south Davis County, one in Provo and a handful in Salt Lake County.

For the next year, association members will observe projects funded by RDA dollars. They'll take pictures, document blight and present their findings to a task force scheduled to review the scope and use of RDA powers.

The South Davis projects have already been targeted. One is a 100-acre development centered around the Farmington commuter rail station. The other is in West Bountiful, where an existing business was demolished Wednesday to make way for a Costco.

Other businesses will be torn down in the coming months.

West Bountiful city manager Wendell Wild says the use of RDA money to fund the Costco development was appropriate. While some businesses scheduled for demolition are still viable, the area was legitimately blighted, he said.

The new project will fix an area that was developed "piecemeal," with conflicting land uses. It will also bolster West Bountiful's tax base, he said.

"We have strived so it would be a win-win-win all around," Wild said.

RDA foes and other city officials say differently. Jerman calls the West Bountiful development a top example of misuse of RDA powers, similar to a proposal in Ogden to use eminent domain for a Wal-Mart development.

"Whatever economic activity happens there, whatever retail is going to occur there, it's not economic growth that wouldn't occur on its own," he said. "Retail is driven by population and personal income. If there's sufficient personal income, retail will come without a subsidy."

Bountiful city manager Tom Hardy agrees with the concept. While a partner in the West Bountiful development, Bountiful stands to lose tax dollars when Costco is built, he said.

With Utah's current tax structure, sales tax is split 50-50 between point of sale and population. A city with a small population and a lot of retail can bring in significant chunks of cash.

It creates a climate that some city officials say leads to the unnecessary wooing of big-box retailers.