School board members alarmed as Sandy City seeks up to 80% tax increment for Housing and Transit Reinvestment Zone

Canyons School District officials on Sept. 2 expressed concern after Sandy City presented a Housing and Transit Reinvestment Zone application that would allow the city to capture up to 80% of tax increment in the zone for as long as 25 years.

Leon Wilcox, the district’s business administrator, described HTRZs as a state legislative tool created in 2023 and amended in a subsequent session. He said qualifying parcels must be within one‑third of a transit station and that the Sandy proposal would allow very high density development — the application estimates roughly 1,500 housing units, office space and a hotel — and projects $144 million in tax increment for the sponsor over 25 years.

Wilcox told trustees the district’s usual negotiated tax‑increment splits and shorter terms would not apply to HTRZs and that the district’s standard policy typically avoids more than 20 years. He said the draft Sandy plan requested the full 25‑year term and the top percentage placement of increment and that, under district calculations, the new development could produce an increase of roughly 100–250 students over time while reducing the district’s per‑student tax revenue in the near term.

Board members criticized the legislation’s timing and its potential effect on school funding. Trustee Amanda (first name only in transcript) said the HTRZ was a “sleeper bill” slipped through the legislature and argued the shift would steer revenue to developers rather than to student services. Multiple trustees proposed sending a formal letter to the Sandy mayor and city council and to seek legislative remedies, including asking lawmakers to reconsider HTRZ rules or create offsets for school districts.

Trustees discussed asking Sandy City to lower the requested increment percentage or the term from 25 to 20 years. The board authorized staff to draft a letter registering the district’s concerns and to include the topic on the district’s pre‑legislative lunch and outreach to state legislators.

Wilcox and board members noted some of Sandy’s projected benefits (new housing, transit connectivity, pedestrian access), but several trustees said the proposal’s mix of a luxury hotel and high increment percentage raised equity and fiscal concerns for the district.

No formal vote on the Sandy application was taken; trustees said two district representatives (Jackson and Wilcox) will represent the district on the HTRZ committee and will vote on behalf of the district at that committee meeting, though board members said they would advise those representatives on the board’s concerns ahead of the committee meeting.

The board directed administration to prepare messaging and to coordinate with communications and legislative contacts.