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Show RDA proposal draws mixed response By MARK EDDINGTON Staff Writer FARMINGTON A proposal by the city Redevelopment Agency to designate 40 of 400 acres between be-tween Burke and Shepard lanes as a blight project area, drew a mixed response from landowners at a Wednesday public hearing. City council woman Marda Dillree told property owners an RDA project area was necessary to finance capital improvements without further burdening the taxpayers. tax-payers. Dillree said establishing a project area, which would include The tax increment collected by the RDA is the difference between the property taxes after development and the assessed taxes before improvement. im-provement. City officials assert the schools will realize long-term benefits by property revenue increases generated ge-nerated by new businesses coming into the project area. Under what is called the "Haircut Provision' of the Utah Neighborhood Development Act, the RDA receives the full increment for the first five years. Thereafter, the agency collects 80 percent for the second five years; 75 percent for the next five and 60 percent after 21 years. The remainder goes to regular tax entities such as the county, coun-ty, school district and mosquito abatement program. The act places a 32-year limit on redevelopment projects, after which the full increment incre-ment goes to regular tax entities. The city council plans to hold another public hearing April 24 to receive input from citizens who do not own land on the proposed area. If residents support the project, the city plans to conduct a blight survey of the 400-acre area to see what land qualifies for a blight designation. designa-tion. The city wants to establish a 40-acre 40-acre project area configured around the K mart development near West Shepard Lane, according to Dillree. The law allows a maximum project area of 100 acres. Proposed project areas must meet two of 10 criteria before qualifying for blight status. Blight designations designa-tions are intended to alleviate the community from areas that are harmful to public health, welfare and safety. "There will be a great impact on this land within the next five years," Dillree said. "Development is going to come. This is just a tool to offset some of the future costs we'll be absorbing. the K mart development, would capture much of the necessary dollars through tax increments to fund the improvements. The city would use the tax increment in-crement from K mart to pay for widening of Shepard Lane and installation in-stallation of a 10-inch water line along the lane. In addition, the city would use the money to share costs with the K mart developer to pay for a new storm sewer system and construction of 1075 West, a new road just west of the future K mart. City manager Max Forbush said the cost of these improvements total $271,000, almost all of which would be paid for by the tax increment incre-ment from K mart. The city's plan to conduct a blight survey of 400 acres did not please David Potter, who owns a ranch on part of the land the RDA wants to study. Potter told council members the majority of people move to Farmington to escape from subdivisions and the city. "And now what are you doing?' he asked Potter said the city council, who also makes up the RDA board, were acting prematurely by jumping into a redevelopment project instead of waiting for the outcome of a Utah Department of Transportation proposal pro-posal to turn U.S. 89 into an expressway. ex-pressway. Much of the land the RDA wants to study borders the west side of the highway. Potter said by giving the area a blight designation, property values would go down and property owners would not be paid fair value for their land if the expressway is approved and frontage roads are constructed on their land. Scott Kjar, who supports the city's plan for a 40-acre project, argued that a delay would mean the city would lose the increment from K mart to finance improvements. Kjar said increasing the infrastructure in-frastructure and making improvements im-provements would make everyone's property more valuable. "Development is coming,' he said. "You can't just put your head in the sand and walk away from it. ' ' Others argued the schools would be hurt by ihe K mart tax increment-estimated at $52,000 per yeargoing to the RDA to pay operating expenses, instead of the regular taxing entities, which include in-clude Davis County schools. According to RDA consultant Jonnalyne Walker, the regular tax entities would still receive the same amount they have always received. |