Herriman reviews strategic plan and outlines CDA/TIF obligations, housing funds and software costs

Speaker 4 presented proposed edits to the city’s strategic plan (adopted Oct. 2023), including a new vision statement and a recommendation to move from every‑other‑year to an annual review; council members asked staff to schedule a follow‑up meeting to identify three to five high‑priority initiatives for the coming year.

Why it matters: The strategic plan sets the city’s high‑level priorities; translating those goals into discrete, funded actions affects capital projects, staffing and interlocal arrangements for services such as senior transportation.

Staff (Speaker 2) then gave an extensive fiscal briefing on community development and renewal (CDA/CRA/TIF) project areas. Key points included:

• Herriman Town Center (HTC): two main reimbursement agreements were described. HTC Communities will be reimbursed for infrastructure and debt service with a remaining obligation ‘‘a little over $20,000,000’’ and about $6,600,000 paid to date. EPC Herriman LLC (branded in the presentation as "Elevated") has a separate infrastructure/site agreement cited at roughly $36,900,000 that combines property‑tax and a 20‑year sales‑tax incentive; staff reported an initial sales‑tax payment of about $263,000 to date.

• Sorenson Impact & Legacy Foundation: staff said a December 2024 consolidation clarified prior agreements and established a clear total obligation of about $32,900,000 for infrastructure in the L‑shaped project area, with roughly $13,800,000 already paid and about 16 years remaining for the project's accounting timeline.

• Affordable housing funds: under Title 17C, CDA/CRA affordable‑housing contributions may be used citywide for land, construction, rehabilitation and related activities but must be encumbered or allotted within six years. Staff reported approximately $448,000 available in the Anthem area (forecast to about $806,000 by FY2028) and roughly $70,000 in the innovation district (forecast to $111,000); combined, staff said there is about $518,000 on hand across those funds now.

• Other project areas: the presentation covered the Herriman Business Center, the auto‑mall (a sales‑tax driven CRA area) and several active developer reimbursement agreements. Staff said some agreements remain inactive until developers request reimbursements and that internal review (CIP committee) is required before using CDA funds for new projects.

• Budget and operations: staff flagged proposed line items including a $50,000 federal lobbying budget, an increase in the Riverton senior‑bus transfer from $5,000 to $25,000, and a planned SaaS financial/HR/payroll system with an annual cost of about $140,000 (current software budget is roughly $15,000). Election costs were noted as variable; FY25 actuals were about $72,000.

Council discussion focused on prioritizing tangible short‑term council goals, formalizing interlocal agreements (for example, the senior bus), and ensuring reporting and encumbrance rules for the affordable‑housing funds. Staff said they will bring tactical recommendations, updated CIP requests and any contract language back to the council for future action.

The council put the strategic plan update on the next consent agenda for formal adoption if no changes are requested and scheduled additional work‑session time to define near‑term priorities and implementation steps.