Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Mida Expansion topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Senate committee approves substitute expanding Military Installation Development Authority powers
Summary
The committee approved a first substitute to SB 316 to give the Military Installation Development Authority (MIDA) administrative flexibility for project areas, allow MIDA to act as lead on environmental reviews, permit collection of construction-materials sales tax in project areas, and clarify public infrastructure district structure.
The Senate Economic Development and Workforce Services Standing Committee unanimously approved a first substitute to SB 316, a bill that makes administrative changes to the Military Installation Development Authority (MIDA) and expands how revenues from MIDA project areas can be used.
Sponsor Senator Dan Stevenson described the changes as largely administrative while highlighting the economic role MIDA has played since 2008. Stevenson cited development west of Hill Air Force Base, including work by contractors such as Northrop Grumman and data centers near Camp Williams, as examples of projects tied to MIDA that generate tax revenue.
“The projects west of Hill Air Force Base ... that’s minor project areas,” Stevenson said, noting MIDA’s role in enabling development tied to military facilities.
Under the first substitute, the bill clarifies that MIDA may contract with the State Armory Board on National Guard project areas, may act as a lead agency for environmental review of projects, and gains flexibility to create public infrastructure districts (PIDs) either as MIDA subsidiaries or as independent entities. The substitute also allows MIDA to collect sales tax on construction materials for qualifying projects so revenue from a project area can be used to pay for infrastructure brought in from outside the area.
Arianna Farber, deputy director of MIDA, told the committee the amendments are mostly administrative and that they particularly address the authority’s new National Guard project area, which covers 26 noncontiguous properties across Utah. “The majority of these amendments are administrative and ... help our new project area, the National Guard Project Area,” Farber said.
Senator Sarah Kwan questioned whether resort-community tax language in the substitute would impose an additional tax on consumers at new hotels. Stevenson confirmed that resort taxes are an additional tax enacted for high-traffic recreation areas and said consumers already pay such taxes in places like Park City. The sponsor also said the substitute would allow participation in resort-tax revenue in areas where such taxes apply, noting potential projects near Mayflower and Summit and Wasatch counties.
Senator Johnson moved to delete the bill’s entitlement body and replace it with the first substitute; that motion passed unanimously. Johnson later moved that the committee send the first substitute of SB 316 to the Senate floor with a favorable recommendation; that motion also passed unanimously.
