Helper to establish redevelopment agency

By JOHN SERFUSTINI
Sun Advocate Contributor

The Helper City Council on Friday decided to re-establish its Redevelopment Agency to promote economic growth in the city.
The former RDA lapsed almost 20 years ago, but a major new project prompted its resurrection.
That project is a large RV park in the south central part of town proposed by developer Tom Lund.
The park would have more than 100 spaces for recreational vehicles and assorted amenities designed to attract upscale travelers.
Lund had asked the council to extend water and electrical service to the site, which is south of Birch Street and East of the Price River.
While he would handle the individual service drops, he was asking the city to cover the cost of extending main line water and power. That would come to about $62,000, he told the council.
The council, while supportive of the park, balked at granting the request for two reasons:
First, without some sort of definite policy regarding investing public money for private enterprise, the council could establish a precedent that could open the flood gates for anyone who wanted subsidized hookups to municipal service.
Second, the city doesn’t have that kind of money anyway.
The council scheduled a special session to deal with Lund’s request because he needed a reply soon to meet construction and financial schedules.
A separate work session to handle the next fiscal year budget had also been set for Friday afternoon.
Although council members were open to suggestions on how to encourage continued development, Mayor Lenise Peterman commented that up-front municipal support for such projects now would entail tax hikes and/or rate hikes to raise revenue.
Even with a payback as additional revenue that the RV park would generate from property tax, sales tax, transient room tax, and utility service, bearing even part of the up-front expense with public funds would be a hard sell to citizens.
An RDA, on the other hand, is a commonplace method of easing business start-ups.
The new Holiday Inn Express in Price is an example. Taxing entities agree to forgo collecting additional property tax from approved developments for a set period.
The RDA, as a separate entity, then uses its share of the increased revenue to promote additional development.
The county or municipality with an RDA has control over where and what projects will qualify.
The council agreed to allow Lund’s project to qualify for RDA assistance when the agency is established and the various taxing entities in the county agree to the temporary tax breaks. Lund said he could handle that arrangement.