Like the other four RDAs placed before the Granite Board, the Cottonwood Mall RDA will not create one job, not one residence. Every promised job and residence will happen somewhere in the community, whether or not the board pays this subsidy to GGP. That's why the Granite School Board and the Salt Lake County Council should vote "no" on all these RDAs.

Once a premier shopping destination in the Salt Lake Valley, the Cottonwood Mall has steadily lost market share. To reinvigorate the area, Holladay Mayor Dennis Webb is championing the proposed Cottonwood Mall RDA.

Under the proposal, over the next 20 years the Granite School District would give $52 million to GGP, the Cottonwood Mall's current owner. In exchange, GGP will upgrade the current site with more than 1 million square feet of high-end retail and residential space.

GGP's plans for the area are spectacular. Virtually any community, and especially one so close to tony Walker Lane, would be thrilled to have this green, walkable, mixed-use development.

Despite its exceptional design, the project cannot justify stealing from Utah's public schoolchildren. And make no mistake about it, that is exactly what this RDA would do.

In essence, it is the same as Bedouin tribes stealing each other's camels. This RDA won't increase the amount of economic activity in Utah, any more than stealing a camel increases economic activity in the desert. In both cases, they just rearrange where the "camels" are.

If this RDA really increased economic activity, then all new businesses - not just the politically connected - should receive their own RDA. The reality is that retail and residential development follow population, disposable income increases with productivity. This RDA won't increase consumers' take-home pay, convince them to spend more or increase productivity. In other words, this RDA will not create any new jobs, residences or retail sales.

Unfortunately, Holladay and GGP are not the only ones trying to take money from Utah public schools. Four cities - Holladay, West Valley City, Taylorsville and South Salt Lake - are asking the Granite School Board to give $101 million in education taxes to developers.

Certainly the Cottonwood Mall RDA is the worst offender, but the sheer volume of projects, and the enormous sums the cities and developers want to take out of Granite classrooms, is staggering.

Rather than asking Granite School District to subsidize these developers' profits, why don't the elected officials in these cities simply take this subsidy out of their own budgets?

That would give them two opportunities. First, they could explain to the public why taxpayers should pay these subsidies. Second, they could hear quite clearly how willing their residents are to pay these subsidies. That all these mayors and city councils don't like this approach suggests they already know how taxpayers feel.

On Tuesday the Granite School Board will decide whether these RDAs receive the school portion of the subsidy. Taxpayers want to see if the board is watching out for children or developers. These subsidies won't increase the amount of consumer spending on houses or retail, not by even one dollar. The subsidy GGP et al want will only benefit them.

With Utah schools already receiving less per student than any state in the nation, it is just plain wrong to ask the students and teachers of the Granite School District to line these developers' pockets. That's why the Granite School Board, Mayor Peter Corroon and the Salt Lake County Council should join the Utah Taxpayers Association in opposing these RDAs.

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* ROYCE VAN TASSELL is vice president of the Utah Taxpayers Association.