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Hess criticizes public infrastructure districts and urges water‑pricing reform; flags data‑center use
Summary
In a Davis County Conservatives interview, Braden Hess argued that public infrastructure districts (PIDs) and related subsidies favor developers and contribute to rising local property taxes, and he urged water‑pricing changes to reflect scarcity and rein in large water users like data centers.
Braden Hess told a Davis County Conservatives interview that mechanisms such as public infrastructure districts (PIDs) and other tax‑increment approaches can subsidize developers and shift costs onto counties and property owners.
"Basically the government is subsidizing these highdensity housing projects by freezing the property tax at its current use... that difference goes toward refunding the developers for infrastructure," Hess said, arguing that the practice reduces developers' upfront costs while increasing longer‑term tax pressures on local services.
When asked about water policy and the recent flurry of water bills, Hess criticized piecemeal legislation and argued pricing should reflect scarcity. He said residential users are being squeezed while large corporate users — notably data centers — use substantial amounts of water without sufficient recapture plans. "How can we favor that and allow our farmers to go without water... allowing a data center to use 39 million gallons of water a day," he said.
Hess proposed protecting agricultural water rights while creating stronger incentives for large industrial users to recapture and reduce consumption. He framed metering and pricing as tools to make scarcity visible and to align usage with value: "If water were priced as though it's a scarce resource... you would see, oh wow, my water bill is a lot bigger this month." He also warned that restructuring water law should protect farmers and their rights.
The interview recorded no technical studies or citations to verify specific numeric claims (such as the 39 million‑gallon figure) and Hess acknowledged uncertainty about some PID mechanics. His statements were presented as policy positions and interpretations of how PIDs and water pricing affect local taxpayers and resource users.
No formal county action or vote took place during the recording; the session was an interview with questions from group members and concluded after closing remarks.
