Hooper council hears fiscal-impact briefing on proposed Smith’s Plaza, CRA and sewer lift station

A consultant presented the findings of an economic and fiscal impact analysis of the proposed Smith’s Plaza development during Hooper City’s Aug. 7 work meeting, saying commercial retail would generate net tax revenue for the city while the sewer lift station required for the project creates a financing barrier.

Jason (consultant) told the council that “commercial development will never, at least in terms of how the current tax code is set up in the state of Utah…commercial development will never cost the city money.” He urged the council to treat the retail component as the project’s primary fiscal benefit and to secure assurances that the commercial portion will be built alongside residential development.

The consultant said his model projects about $13.5 million in cumulative sales-tax revenue to Hooper across the study period and showed property-tax revenue to the city of roughly $363,000 (total) and an energy tax item of about $30,000 (total) over the same horizon. He described the study’s baseline assumptions: a 2.5% annual sales-tax growth rate and a 4% discount rate for net-present-value calculations; the model assumes commercial activity…