Wallace Stegner, one of my favorite authors claimed “One cannot be pessimistic about the West. This is the native home of hope. When it fully learns that cooperation, not rugged individualism, is the quality that most characterizes and preserves it…. Then it has a chance to create a society to match its scenery.”
I manage the city of Hideout. Though we know it as a town, census data last year showed it was the fastest growing municipality in the state and it became a city last year. The reason for this boom is partially because of a financial “superpower” that incentivizes growth by giving tax incentives to developers, through a tool known as tax increment financing (“TIF”).
When the town entered an interlocal agreement with the Military Installment Development Authority (“MIDA”) in 2019, a portion of the town became subject to this financing incentive and TIF as well as other financing tools is the fuel behind the 20,000-plus expected residential units on the west side of the Jordanelle.
As a young municipality, Hideout functions financially through building operations. This is not uncommon for a new municipality. The city has no brick-and-mortar commercial resources other than a private golf course that is rarely open and frequently the subject of complaints by angry residents over its lack of maintenance. Commercial enterprise is what creates sales tax and long-term viability for a municipality. Without commercial enterprise, residents’ property taxes can skyrocket. Typically, sales tax accounts for roughly four times the amount a municipality receives in property tax (a small portion of one’s total tax bill). To maximize sales tax, a municipality needs commerce.
In addition to no significant commercial revenue, the city has no town center, no grocery stores, and no gas stations, making the residents rely on frequent vehicle trips on S.R.-248, usually in the crush going into and out of Park City.
There are also few public spaces in Hideout. Residents claim that the mayor threw a successful 10-year anniversary celebration of the town in a cul de sac. Last summer, our Community Outreach Committee pulled off a summer concert series in the driveway of our public works facility (a legal gift we were grateful to receive in 2020 from a developer when he annexed the area — now in the MIDA area — into the town. The public works’ driveway was an upgrade from the concert series held the summer before in a resident’s driveway.
Yesterday I sent off a grant application for planning services to determine the feasibility of using MIDA revenues to build a regional concert venue. The idea began as a suggestion of some of our music-loving residents. Our Economic Development Committee heard that idea and hosted a series of meetings with stakeholders in the regional community, including Park City, Park City Institute, Summit County, Wasatch County, Heber Valley Airport, and MIDA. Though I can’t claim credit, as a resident of unincorporated Summit County, I’d love to see an outdoor venue that could host the types of concerts for which I’ve traveled to Red Rocks in Colorado and to other locations. Park City is looking for an arts and culture district, Heber Valley Airport could use a boost in revenues from adjacent Sun Valley and Jackson, Hideout could use some sales tax revenues and MIDA will need to fill its seven slated hotels.
Hideout has stellar views and a natural outdoor theatre venue on a piece of land for sale. Let’s lay down our swords and begin creating the “society to match its scenery.” Working together I’m confident we can solve big issues. Who knows, maybe we can fill Park City, Midway and Wasatch County hotels as early as this summer.