GENEVA URA, COMMITTEES, AGENDA

GENEVA DEVELOPMENT

    About the Vineyard URA, or tax benefit to develop the old Geneva property, the short answer to your questions is that we got skunked. The Board and the District agreed that the demands were too stiff, and both sides were maneuvering for the best terms. We worked with a committee from Utah County, the town of Geneva, Alpine School District, the Utah State Office of Education, a representative of all other taxing entities such as the water district, and an at-large member. Three votes would stop it, and we felt confident that ASD and the USOE member held a strong hand.

     Oops. They called a vote, the USOE voted in favor, and it was suddenly all over.

     The longer answer, although not very technical, is that the developer needed tax breaks to be able to accomplish the massive clean-up and build the ambitious commercial/residential design sitting on the drawing board. The proposal was exciting and attractive, but the concessions asked were pretty generous. In particular Alpine School District was resisting the unheard of length of time, 40 years, and the residential component, where property taxes from the 2300 housing units projected would be reinvested with the development while the district would still be required to educate the children from those homes.

     The third problem was the roll-back, or using the tax base from 2006, before the power plant was built, when the property was worth considerably less. Representative Curt Bramble, Provo, passed a bill rolling back the tax rate for the property, which had the effect of raising the tax rate on the entire district. Now that the redevelopment is moving forward, watch for your next tax bill to reflect a $15-17 increase for the average household for a private developer to make big money improving the town of Geneva with your tax dollars.

     Anderson Development had scaled back to 35 years (that’s still two generations of school children) and was preparing other mitigations when the bargaining was suddenly all over. While this is certainly political, it seems that each party was doing his job in representing the interests of those they worked with. We will all enjoy driving along I-15 and seeing a charming little development in place of blight. But I do not understand the roll-back, nor the USOE abandoning us.

     I wrote earlier about seeing two columns, one for what we get and one for what we give. The money guys have done this, and the conservative estimate is that this deal will immediately cost ASD $30 million. Boo, hiss.

COMMITTEES

     Here’s my report from the field, so to speak—I have been a Board member for less than three weeks, and I have been to a ton of meetings!

     I have met with several of our legislators with the Legislative Committee, and I plan to be in Salt Lake quite a bit in the next 45 days to represent the educational interests of our children. I am working with the Bond Committee, exploring how to deal with our growth needs, as well as the maintenance of existing facilities district-wide (Eagle Mountain and Saratoga Springs are predicted to double before the next census, and Lehi will go up by 50%).  I’ve had several meetings as a member of the Board of Trustees for the MATC (that’s the one with the great food).

     I met with my two clusters, Lehi High and Westlake, with a total of 22 schools; the two new schools in Saratoga Springs will bring us to 32% of the district (most board members have one cluster of eight or nine schools). And I attended the District Community Council meeting to get to know the representatives.

     No meetings (yet) but I am scheduled for the Building and Grounds Committee, representing the north and west of the district. I am also on the Curriculum Review Committee and I am an alternate on the Public Relations Committee and the North County Medical Coalition.

     And dear Mr. Wonderful drives me everywhere, opens the car door and carries my books, then finds a quiet corner and does his reading while I make sure he gets a taste of whatever refreshments are served. Sometimes he critiques my comments or reminds me to stop talking and go home. Am I blessed? Wow, what a guy!

 AGENDA FOR JANUARY 25 BOARD MEETING

To be held at Oak Canyon Junior High

“The purpose of the study session (4 p.m.) will be to receive a report from the Bond Committee, particularly in regards to a proposed survey to patrons, and to discuss other current issues.”