Ogden's redevelopment agency was created to encourage private investment in blighted areas of the community or areas with a demonstrated need for economic development. A board comprised of members of the City Council governs the agency. Priority development activity within targeted areas, known as "project areas," may be eligible for financial assistance provided by the agency. Project areas are usually less than 100 acres in size and take between three and six months to establish.

Once a project area is created, the agency may assist in the acquisition of property or in the development of the site. The agency has the ability, with approval of a committee comprised of representatives of various taxing entities, to receive a portion of the property tax revenue (referred to as "tax increment") paid on new improvements constructed in the project area. This allows the agency to financially assist in the development of projects. Providing financial assistance is limited to those projects that the agency determines are important in building the community and helping to reach its development goals. The agency may use up to 20% of the tax increment generated by an economic development or redevelopment project area to encourage the development of affordable housing throughout the community.

• Tax Increment Financing
• Redevelopment Project Area Map
• Link to Redevelopment Districts
• Housing Fund
• Appendix

How Tax Increment Financing Works

Redevelopment projects in which Ogden City Redevelopment Agency (OCRDA) is involved are financed through a combination of public and private investment. A unique mechanism called tax increment financing (TIF) enables OCRDA to use the net new tax revenues generated by the redevelopment to help finance the project.

Here's how TIF works. When a redevelopment project is being planned, OCRDA analyzes how much additional real and personal property taxes should be generated once it is completed. That "tax increment" then can be used by OCRDA either to finance the issuance of bonds or to reimburse developers for a portion of their project financing. In either case, the new tax revenue that is created must be used for improvements that have a public benefit and that support the redevelopment effort, such as site clearance, streets, utilities, parks, the removal of hazardous materials or conditions, or site acquisition and the removal of blighted buildings.

TIF is used only when an area or property can't be redeveloped without public investment and when it meets a public objective, and then only to fill the gap between the total project cost and the level of private financing the project can support. In the case of developer reimbursement, the amount of money reimbursed depends on the success of the project, with the developer getting the money only if the project creates the extra value for the city.

All the additional taxes created by the redevelopment revert to the normal taxing entities once OCRDA has fulfilled its monetary obligations related to a project. Thus, the neighborhood benefits from the creation of revitalized, productive properties and the taxing entities get new, permanent sources of revenue that wouldn't have existed if OCRDA had not enabled the project to be undertaken.