Business in South Jordan: what the record shows

South Jordan's case is that its development deals are post-performance, that they are not a tax increase, and that without them the city gets the growth it does not want. Its commerce director, Brian Preece, told the Redevelopment Agency board on 5 April 2022 what that means: "all of our project areas have been post performance, which means unless the development happens and the tax increment from that development is created, there is no tax increment and we don't have anything to pass on" 1. The city's FAQ on Downtown Daybreak makes the same argument to residents: an HTRZ "is not a tax increase", and taxing entities "will continue to receive the same amount of tax revenue that was generated before the creation" 2. The 2026-2027 budget states the fiscal motive: "Without more commercially based property taxes, the City will continue to find it harder to meet the growth related service demands" 3. Residential property "is taxed at 55% of its market value", Mr Preece told the board, and finishing Daybreak as houses rather than an urban centre would leave the city "unsustainable" 1. South Jordan is 89,114 people with nearly 2,000 business licences and more than 28,000 jobs 4.

The record, in the city's own numbers. The Budget in Brief says $15,240,000 of tax increments will be received from the seven redevelopment areas and that the money "will be used to reimburse developer costs for the installation of City infrastructure" 3. The five increment funds budget $16,180,000: $5,900,000 to the Redevelopment Agency, $8,600,000 to the Community Development Area, $940,000 to RDA Housing, $140,000 to the new community reinvestment area and $600,000 to the new transit zone 3. Seventeen project areas appear in the city's tables; ten are completed and seven still collect, the same seven 3.

Most is not paid out this year. The RDA fund takes in $6,020,000, pays $2,250,000 in "Tax Increment Commitments", transfers $1,216,700 to a special improvement district and adds $1,992,855 to its fund balance; the CDA takes in $8,600,000, pays $3,200,000 and banks $4,930,000 3. Housing runs the other way: $15,060,000 of spending against $940,000 of current housing increment, closed with $14,301,000 of fund balance 3. The budget's own note says state law requires 20 per cent of the increment from new economic or redevelopment project areas to be used to encourage housing 3. The area budget adopted in 2022 said 10 per cent - "Housing Contribution (10% of total increment per requirement)", $37,514,694 - and that is 7.5 per cent of the $500,195,916 of increment the plan projected over thirty years 1. Two of the city's own documents, two rates.

The participation agreement sets the split. The agency receives increment for up to twenty years for each parcel inside a window running from 2026 to 2055, and pays the developer 90 per cent of the funds it actually receives, keeping 10 per cent - 5 per cent administration, 5 per cent maintenance 5. Ninety per cent of ninety per cent is 81 cents on the City's own dollar; the counterparty is VP Daybreak Devco, LLC 5. The agreement records that the only interlocal agreement then anticipated was with the City itself 5. Of the $376,000,000 of property tax revenue the agency requested, $181,500,000 - 48 per cent - was for "Interest on Bonds and Costs of Issuance" 6.

Who bears the cost can be measured. The state's tax year 2025 list of tax increment projects affecting public education records six South Jordan areas where Jordan School District revenue was $8,508,640, at 100 per cent participation, with nothing retained 7. Salt Lake County's auditor reports South Jordan's five active areas at $1,716,016,004 of assessed value against a $69,790,116 base and $14,387,114 of entitled increment, and notes that base values of inactive projects "are unavailable or have not been updated" 8. The decisions were the agency's: it designated the area on 7 December 2021 by Resolution RDA 2021-06, the plan and budget came as Resolutions RDA 2022-02 and RDA 2022-03 with Ordinance 2022-10, tabled from 5 to 19 April 2022, and the amended plan and budget were adopted on 19 September 2023 ahead of Resolution RDA 2023-09 15.

Our judgement is about distribution, not intent. Post-performance answers whether the city pays for a failed project; it does not answer who forgoes the revenue when one succeeds. In the areas already collecting, the school district kept none of its $8,508,640 7, while the city banks increment it did not spend - $1,992,855 and $4,930,000 into two fund balances in one year 3.

Four things would change our mind. Reconcile the housing rate and say which figure governs the area created in 2022 13. Publish a per-parcel schedule - trigger date, capture share, end date - for every area, since the county cannot report the base values of the areas that have finished 8. Say whether the new Daybreak Town Center zone overlaps that area and how one parcel's increment would split between them; the 2022 plan protected a 39.913-acre overlap with the South Station CDA until 2030 5. And report delivery against the plan's own projection - 6,385 homes, 4.6 million square feet of office, 1.6 million of retail. If the houses arrive and the offices do not, South Jordan will have diverted a school district's growth to build the suburb it said it did not want 1.

Sources:

1 South Jordan City Council and Redevelopment Agency, combined meeting packet and minutes, 19 April 2022 - the presentation to the agency board on 5 April 2022 by the Director of City Commerce on the Southwest Quadrant Urban Center community reinvestment area: the post-performance terms of the city project areas, residential property taxed at 55 per cent of market value, the $5 billion of private investment expected, the 6,385 residential units, 4,603,400 square feet of office and 1,641,000 square feet of retail projected; the fiscal impact of $500,195,916 over thirty years with 75 per cent to the project area, of which 10 per cent to an affordable housing set-aside ($37,514,694) and 25 per cent to the taxing entities; the project area budget of $666,032,003 including $193,622,933 of RDA investment and an estimated $150 million in net bond proceeds; Resolution RDA 2021-06 of 7 December 2021, Resolutions RDA 2022-02 and RDA 2022-03 and Ordinance 2022-10. https://www.utah.gov/pmn/files/836785.pdf

2 City of South Jordan, "Urban Center & Bees Stadium: Housing & Density" (FAQ) - the HTRZ "is not a tax increase", taxing entities continue to receive the revenue generated before its creation, and receive all revenue generated within the zone once its timeline ends. https://www.sjc.utah.gov/faq.aspx?TID=44

3 City of South Jordan, 2026-2027 Annual Budget - the City Manager message; the Budget in Brief (a total of $15,240,000 of tax increments in the seven redevelopment areas, "used to reimburse developer costs for the installation of City infrastructure"); the Special Revenue Fund Summary ($5,900,000 RDA, $940,000 RDA Housing, $8,600,000 CDA, $140,000 CRA, $600,000 HTRZ); the RDA, RDA Housing, CDA, CRA and HTRZ fund pages and their project area tables; the note that 20 per cent of the increment from new economic or redevelopment project areas must be used to encourage the development of housing; and RDA Housing expenditure of $15,060,000 against $940,000 of housing revenue with $14,301,000 used from fund balance. https://www.sjc.utah.gov/Archive/ViewFile/Item/723

4 City of South Jordan, Economic Development - population 89,114, nearly 2,000 active business licences and more than 28,000 jobs as of September 2026. https://www.sjc.utah.gov/319/Economic-Development

5 South Jordan City Council and Redevelopment Agency, packet for the meeting of 3 October 2023, Item H.1: Resolution RDA 2023-09 and the attached participation agreement with VP Daybreak Devco, LLC, together with the interlocal agreement with the City - the amended plan and budget adopted 19 September 2023; the term of up to twenty years for each parcel within a collection window from 2026 to 2055; 90 per cent of the City share of tax increment to the agency and 90 per cent of the project area funds to the participant; the 10 per cent retained by the agency (5 per cent administration, 5 per cent maintenance); and the exclusion of increment generated in the South Station CDA until 2030 and in the South Station HTRZ. https://www.utah.gov/pmn/files/1027847.pdf

6 City of South Jordan, Notice of Combined Plan and Budget Hearing for the Southwest Quadrant Urban Center Community Reinvestment Project Area, hearing of 5 April 2022 - $376,000,000 of property tax revenue requested by the Agency, of which $181,500,000 for interest on bonds and costs of issuance, and the taxing entities from which the revenue would be drawn. https://www.utah.gov/pmn/files/826428.pdf

7 Utah Tax Increment Financing Projects that Impact Public Education, TY2025 - the Jordan School District entries for South Jordan City Redevelopment Agency project areas - the six entries record $333,644, $1,154,699, $1,387,483, $4,172,748, $1,318,254 and $141,812, which sum to $8,508,640 of increment paid at 100 per cent participation with no district revenue retained. https://www.utah.gov/pmn/files/1494913.pdf

8 Office of the Salt Lake County Auditor, County Auditor Report on Community Reinvestment Agency Act Project Areas, Tax Year 2025, South Jordan City - five active project areas, $1,716,016,004 of assessed property value against a $69,790,116 base taxable value and $14,387,114 of entitled tax increment for the current year, with the note that base taxable values of inactive projects are unavailable or have not been updated. https://www.saltlakecounty.gov/globalassets/1-site-files/property-tax/home/taxincrementreport.pdf