RDA approves amended airport CRA agreement and participation incentives for Williams International

The Ogden City Redevelopment Agency on March 4 approved two related measures to support development at the Ogden-Hinckley Airport: an amended interlocal agreement with Weber County for the airport community reinvestment area (CRA) and a participation/incentive agreement with Williams International to help underwrite a planned expansion.

The RDA voted unanimously to adopt the amended interlocal agreement and the Williams participation agreement after presentations from city staff. The amended interlocal agreement restricts the county’s share of tax increment to infrastructure uses and lowers the county’s participation rate from 90% to 75% while keeping the county’s maximum contribution at $17,000,000 and the CRA’s expiration year at 2047. The participation agreement would direct TIF proceeds to infrastructure that supports Williams’ proposed expansion and to a targeted job-creation incentive.

Sarah Mies, economic development staff, told the board the airport CRA was established in 2023 and that Weber County negotiated changes to conform with a new county CRA participation policy. “The amended interlocal agreement will restrict the use of the county's portion of tax increment to infrastructure,” Mies said, and the amendment also reduces the county participation rate to 75 percent while keeping the county’s maximum contribution unchanged at $17,000,000.

City staff described the Williams International proposal as an expansion of a long-standing Ogden employer. “Williams has been here in Ogden since 1978, and they currently employ more than 900 individuals here in Ogden,” Mies said. The company proposes a roughly 100,000-square-foot addition to its existing manufacturing campus, an investment city staff estimated at about $1,000,000,000 over the life of the project and more than 300 new manufacturing jobs.

Because Williams identified higher labor and operating costs here and electrical upgrades as obstacles, staff proposed TIF-based incentives. The RDA-approved participation package includes $17,000,000 in TIF for electrical infrastructure improvements and $5,000,000 in TIF tied to the project’s job-creation and job-training commitments. Staff also proposed a city-funded public infrastructure investment of $5,500,000 for a 24-inch water line at the airport to remove a constraint to future growth.

Mies outlined how the local TIF mechanism works: taxing entities keep base property tax revenues, the negotiated participation rates determine pass-throughs, 20% of increment goes to the RDA housing fund (restricted to income-targeted housing), and the remainder is available as development incentive. She said the city intends to trigger tax increment commencement on Jan. 1, 2026, or the year the RDA triggers the date.

Board members asked about the county participation decrease and whether total increment remained unchanged; staff explained the calculation now reflects multiple county taxing entities so the county’s maximum contribution still aligns with the budget. After discussion, Board Member Myers made the motion to adopt resolution 2025-3 (the interlocal amendment), seconded by Board Member Blair; the roll call vote recorded all present board members voting aye.

For the Williams participation agreement, Board Member Graff moved and Board Member Blair seconded adoption of resolution 2025-4. The roll call vote was unanimous. City staff said the incentive package is intended to keep the expansion in Ogden rather than losing the project to states the company had been considering.

The RDA will proceed with the agreements as approved; staff said the infrastructure components are intended to serve both Williams and other airport users. The agreements set participation rates, maximum contributions, the CRA base year (2020), and the CRA expiration date (2047).