Editor:
I am writing to let your readers know of something that has been going on for a couple of years that they may or may not be aware of. Until now, I had never heard of a Redevelopment Agency project area (RDA) or blight study. However, both terms have taken on a sinister meaning.
West Bountiful City officials have in the works an RDA project area, which encompasses 60 acres south of 4th North between I-15 and US-89. We need to educate ourselves on the issues surrounding this process and its potential impacts. Is West Bountiful City really providing resources to our community, or simply seizing privately owned property and giving massive gifts of public funds to for-profit developers? Why would they do this? These decisions are in the hands of a few City Council members, who are also serving dual roles as directors of the RDA. Is this self-serving role a conflict of interests? Is this important issue about the future of our community, or is it more about political power and big money interests?
The mechanism by which the RDA's receive property taxes, called tax increment financing, was created in 1952. Under tax increment financing, an RDA receives all the property tax increases generated by a redevelopment project area for the life of the project--often 30 years or more. Had an area not been designated as a project area, those same property tax revenues would have been split among the counties, cities, school districts, and other special districts. In California alone $300 million that would otherwise have gone to counties, and $800 million that would have gone to school districts, instead went to RDA's. Is this same sad scenario being repeated in Utah?
As I understand the RDA process, someone begins contacting property owners and tries to purchase their property. At this point, some people are willing to sell and move for the right price, while other individuals do not want to move at all. If someone says that his home or business is not for sell, he is told that if he does not sell, the property could be taken by eminent domain. Then the owner must face a choice--whether to accept the loss of his beloved home, business, or neighborhood and try to strike the best arrangement he can, or stand his ground and fight. These are the same "strong arm" tactics that are currently being used by West Bountiful City's RDA. After a percentage of property owners within a designated RDA project area have agreed to sell their homes or businesses, a blight study is conducted. Since identification of blight is a necessary condition for establishing the West Bountiful RDA project area, by what stretch of the imagination or findings of a study can viable, attractive, and profitable business establishments be considered blighted?
According to the law, a blighted area is defined as a "serious physical and economic burden to the community which cannot reasonably be expected to be reversed or alleviated by private enterprise or government action, or both, without redevelopment." Each city decides which of its areas are considered to be blighted, and there is little citizen oversight to police these decisions.
The properties that West Bountiful officials have now deemed blighted have paid their property taxes for decades. At no time have business owners been informed that their properties looked bad, were in serious physical deterioration, or were an economic burden to the community. Can a business be blighted if it is thriving? It would seem such is the case, since West Bountiful City is interested only in increasing its tax base by luring "big box retail" to the area at the expense of smaller, healthy businesses.
The American Dream is to work hard, buy a home, start a business, and be in control of one's destiny. Our lives are our families, homes, businesses, and neighborhoods. I question the RDA and West Bountiful City officials who tell us to leave the decision to them as they have our best interests in mind. Is their interests really shared by a community where large scale retail, with all its associated impacts, is given preference over small, strong businesses?
Lu Ann Halford, Bountiful