Geneva redevelopment project meets opposition

VINEYARD, Utah County — The Alpine School District and Utah Taxpayers Association don't want to see public money used to fund part of the $900 million-plus makeover planned for the former Geneva Steel property.

And they may take legal action to keep it from happening.

"This would have a negative impact on taxpayers in Alpine School District," said Rhonda Bromley, district spokeswoman. "We are very much opposed to it."

In January, the Alpine School District was on the losing end of a vote among taxing entities that would be affected by subsidizing remediation and development of the 1,700-acre property now owned by Anderson Development Inc.

The developer plans to build a mix of residential, office and industrial uses on the now mostly vacant property in Vineyard between I-15 and Utah Lake. The cost to clean up and add infrastructure to the property is estimated at $325 million.

That's roughly the amount the developer is hoping to receive through the Vineyard Redevelopment Agency. Through an RDA, local governments can step in and use taxpayer money to subsidize projects that are expected to spur future development and boost tax revenue.

Royce Van Tassell, vice president of the Utah Taxpayers Association, said that figure would make it the highest-priced RDA project in Utah's history.

If the project is approved next week by the town RDA, homeowners living within the Alpine School District boundaries would see a property tax increase of between $14 and $17 per year — based on the average home price of $230,000 — for 35 years.

School district officials also are worried about the 400-plus acres of residential construction in Anderson Development's plans. Property taxes on the homes, Bromley says, would not pay for the full cost of educating the number of students such growth would bring.

In addition, the project is using tax calculations from 2006, before construction of a Rocky Mountain Power plant and a FedEx shipping facility in the area — a combined $140 million investment. That turning back of the clock was made legal by SB197, sponsored by Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo, and approved by the Utah Legislature in 2010.

"A lot of things have changed in five years," Bromley said. "What things were worth in 2006 compared to today certainly are different."

According to Vineyard documents, $227 million in tax dollars that would have gone to the Alpine School District will be shifted to the redevelopment agency project.