Members of the Legislative Auditor General's Office will scrutinize how cities and counties created redevelopment agencies, which community officials use to tap property taxes destined for other agencies to overhaul their worst areas.

"[Lawmakers] want to know if redevelopment agencies are doing the job they are supposed to do," said John Schaff, the auditor general.

In particular, Schaff says auditors will examine so-called blight within RDA zones. Blight has been a major sticking point within the RDA debate. Critics argue that some cities wrongly dubbed open fields as blighted in order to create redevelopment areas and tie up property taxes.

RDAs originally were designed to help communities rebuild failing areas. An RDA works by allowing cities to bond against anticipated increases in property taxes from redeveloped areas and then using that funding to make improvements. Left behind are other taxing entities who lose the property taxes for decades.

The Utah Taxpayers Association and other groups have argued that cities use RDAs to rob money from schools - the association contends $49 million in property taxes were diverted from education to RDAs this year - to attract businesses that don't add to Utah's overall tax base.

Communities counter that RDAs are virtually the only tool Utah lawmakers have given them to lure development to land that either is run-down or isolated and lacking infrastructure.

The idea of an RDA audit originated with Robyn Bagley, a Sandy resident who founded the Citizens' Coalition for RDA Reform.

"[Auditors] would serve as a neutral source and bring in some accurate information," Bagley said.

She persuaded 15 lawmakers to request the audit.

The four-member Legislative Audit Committee approved the request last week and placed it second highest on a list of upcoming audits. The study probably will begin in June after other audits are completed, Schaff said.

During the past legislative session, lawmakers slapped a one-year moratorium on new RDAs and prohibited existing ones from condemning property. The Utah Tax Reform Task Force also formed a subcommittee to study the issue and propose legislation.

jsantini@sltrib.com