North S.L. residents to vote on recreation tax

NORTH SALT LAKE — North Salt Lake residents will vote in November whether to impose a special sales tax to develop at least one park in the city.

The North Salt Lake City Council voted 3-0 Tuesday to have residents vote on a recreation, arts and parks, or RAP, tax of 0.1 percent.

The tax, if approved, is equal to one penny on a purchase of $10 and would generate $260,000 a year for eight years.

North Salt Lake Mayor Shanna Schaefermeyer said that of the 8,000 people who work in the city's industrial park, 6,500 live outside of North Salt Lake but spend money in the city when they shop at local restaurants and stores.

"That's a significant part of any RAP tax collection," Schaefermeyer said.

The council agreed that the focus of the tax revenue, expected to total more than $2 million over the next eight years, should be to develop a regional park in the Foxboro North neighborhood, located in the northwestern part of the city. Next on the priority list would be a park in the southeastern part of the city located near the Bonneville Shoreline Trail.

The regional park is slated to be home to soccer and lacrosse fields.

If the tax is approved, the city expects to use the revenue as collateral to bond for the project.

In February, Woods Cross Mayor Kent Parry proposed to give North Salt Lake $20,000 a year for eight years if it decided to green-light the project.

Woods Cross is among four cities in Davis County currently levying a RAP tax for parks and other recreational projects.

At the time, North Salt Lake didn't have enough money budgeted to complete the park, which was originally supposed to be developed by Woodside Homes, which has gone bankrupt.

Bountiful and Centerville have combined their RAP tax revenue to build the Davis Cultural Arts Center in Centerville.

West Bountiful plans to use its RAP tax revenue to purchase land for future trails and parks.

E-mail: jdougherty@desnews.com

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