Tuesday Night Ogden RDA Agenda Item: Ogden River Redevelopment Project Area Extension

We dunno why the Ogden RDA TEC committee "rolled over" again... maybe they were afraid that Godfrey would throw another of his "world famous" temper tantrums

To kick off this morning's Weber County Forum discussion, we'll dutifully highlight an important matter suddenly coming up, seemingly "out of the blue," on Tuesday night's 12/13 RDA/Council Study Session Agenda:

5. Reports from Administration:
b. Ogden River Redevelopment Project Area Extension. Proposed Resolution 2011-25 adopting an amended budget for the Ogden River Redevelopment Project Area as approved by the Taxing Entity Committee on November 10, 2011. (Set/not set public hearing for January 17, 2012 – voice vote)

There's an interesting notation buried in Tuesday night's RDA Board packet, revealing that the Godfrey administration has been "stealthily" working behind the scenes to make the RDA Board's scheduling of the proposed January 17, 2012 "public hearing" what will probably amount to a mere "formality":

November 10, 2011
The Taxing Entity Committee met on November 10, 2011. The TEC unanimously approved extension of the project area to 2027.

Thus the Godfrey administration has quietly succeeded in the veritable "dead of night" in persuading the RDA Taxing Entity Committee (TEC) to agree to recommend that the RDA Board extend the Ogden River Project Redevelopment Area tax increment period "through Tax Year 2027 (an Additional Eight (8) Years)"

Yesiree folks, in the waning days of the Godfrey administration, the Little Lord is tying up another "loose end." Just as in 2009, when this same committee voted to "bail out" the financially-floundering and taxpayer-burdensome Junction Project Money Pit, Boss Godfrey once again resorts to the same game plan and succeeds once again in getting the Ogden RDA TEC to meekly "roll over," thus depriving the taxing entities who depend on a reliable stream of tax revenue to defer collecting that revenue for another eight years... (thereby opening the door for yet another expensive round of Ogden RDA bond refinancing.)

Frankly, we don't know what's wrong with the members of the Taxing Entity Committee, whose primary ethical obligation ought to be the protection of the tax revenue streams of the entities whom they (theoretically, at least) are supposed to represent.

Maybe they were afraid that Godfrey would throw another of his "world famous" temper tantrums.

And while it is true that it'll be the Ogden RDA Board will have the final say on this, the proposed January 17, 2012 RDA "public hearing" will predictably be a "mere formality," as we said.

The floor's open, O Gentle Ones. Who will be the first to throw in their own 2¢?