Heber City councilmembers are seeking support from the Wasatch County Council and the Wasatch County School District for a community reinvestment area, or CRA.
Essentially, it’s a tax increment funding plan. Other local entities will share 75% of their property tax revenue for the next 20 years so that money can be invested in revitalizing downtown Heber. In return, Heber promises to make the area more profitable, generating higher revenue that will eventually reward those investors.
Heber City councilmember Mike Johnston told the Wasatch County Council Wednesday, Nov. 13, the CRA will benefit the whole valley.
“The most effective way for a city to invest in itself is to use a community reinvestment agency,” he said. “We use that to kickstart and ignite private redevelopment.”
He said the CRA will help finance improvements to roads, utilities and public spaces, citing the recently opened Smith’s Marketplace as an example. The city invested in construction on U.S. 40 and the Heritage Farms Parkway in return for the promise of new tax revenue from the grocery store.
“We had to step up with $1.6 million, and then they brought in $42 million,” he said. “That’s what a CRA does: It leverages what we’re doing.”
For about three years, Heber leaders have been asking their fellow councils to pledge their support for the plan. They pitched it to Wasatch County one more time on Wednesday, asking councilmembers to commit to the CRA for 20 years or up to $4.2 million in tax value, whichever comes sooner.
Representatives from the county, the school district and the Community Alliance for Main Street will have a say on committees to oversee the CRA’s work.
The county warmed to Heber’s pitch since the city added more details and new oversight committees since spring. Still, councilmembers decided to schedule a public hearing before taking a vote. Details are yet to be announced.
Local leaders need to come to an agreement by the end of December in order to get the most tax benefit from the proposed CRA.
The school board must also come to a decision. Heber has asked the district for a similar agreement, but for a cap of around $16 million in tax revenue.
More information about the CRA plan is available on a website created by the city.
