This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
As the dust settles on the failed attempt to lure Facebook's data center to a patch of farmland in West Jordan, it's worth remembering why a quarter billion dollars in tax breaks were offered in the first place:
Southwest Salt Lake County desperately needs more commercial tax base.
The deal was based on the idea that it was a massive giveaway of something that government didn't have now and therefore wouldn't miss. It would have given Facebook the gift of paying only a small fraction of its property taxes over the next 20 years, but West Jordan and to a lesser extent the Jordan School District still wanted it because even that small fraction was more than the farmland is producing now for them.
For the school district in particular, the willingness to sign on says much about just how desperate Jordan is to grow its tax base. If just one of the Facebook buildings had been built, its taxable worth would have made it the third most valuable taxable entity in the district. The most valuable entity is Rio Tinto, whose massive operations represent about 11 percent of the total taxable property value in the district. Someday, and the district hopes it won't be soon, the Rio Tinto mine could close when the minerals run out, and Jordan will instantly lose millions.
For West Jordan, the loss of the Facebook deal comes after earlier attempts to establish a car dealership in town, only to be rebuffed by Utah law that regulates the process for creating new dealers. The city is not wrong for aggressively seeking commercial development, even if the Facebook deal may have been biting off too much.
The die is already cast that the southwest county is a bedroom, and that's an attraction for many who move there. But it's not hard to see that the community success stories come where land use is more integrated, where at least some of the people can work as well as live in their cities. Communities to the east and to the south in Utah County are seeing more of that diversity. Draper City and the Canyons School District, for instance, are primed to see their tax valuations climb when the state prison site is developed.
The farmland that was once thought to be Facebook land will be developed someday. Of that we can be certain. But if it's only more houses, the added tax revenue also comes with added demands for services. In the case of the school district, another subdivision of school-age children could cost the district more than subdivision's property taxes will generate.
Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams is facing West Jordan's wrath for killing the deal. McAdams definitely stood up as the leading opponent, but it technically collapsed when the Utah Board of Education tried to adjust the terms. And even if they hadn't, it's not clear whether New Mexico would have won out anyway.
Diversifying West Jordan's economy will serve the rest of the county. If Facebook was the wrong deal for providing that diversity, it's in everyone's interest to find something that will. If communities have nothing but bedrooms, residents may not sleep so well.