Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Community Development topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Senate advances changes to community development law, restores 20% tax-increment threshold
Summary
Senate Bill 205, updated to clarify redevelopment authority rules and tax-increment accounting, was amended on the floor to reinstate a 20% tax-increment threshold and to permit counties to form RDAs under certain conditions; sponsors agreed to interim study on housing set-aside issues.
Senate Bill 205, concerning community development and renewal agencies, was amended and advanced by the Utah Senate on March 3.
Senator Bramble, the sponsor, explained the bill clarifies statutory definitions for abandoned industrial or airport sites, allows counties to form redevelopment agencies (RDAs) if a city chooses not to pursue an RDA, and makes technical corrections to prior laws. He said the bill includes provisions affecting the Geneva site in Vineyard and Orem and addresses how tax increment can be used and accounted for in redevelopment projects.
On the floor the Senate adopted a sponsor amendment restoring a percentage threshold: the amendment reinstates a 20% tax-increment floor (the amendment struck a 15% figure and reinstated 20) and specified a 20-year time horizon for the tax-increment provision rather than the 15 years in an earlier draft. Sponsor and committee members said the change corrects drafting and returns the bill to the policy intent agreed in prior debates.
Senator Davis noted concerns about how set-aside housing funds (from the Olene Walker Housing Trust Fund and related set-asides) are used in economic development areas and asked for further study; Bramble agreed to follow up in the interim and to coordinate with relevant committees to examine low-income housing allocations tied to RDAs and EDAs.
The Senate adopted the amendments by voice vote and placed SB 205 at the bottom of the third-reading calendar.
