Egg Farm's 2013 cap and the differing totals in American Fork's later reports

The $9.26 million limit on American Fork's Egg Farm tax-increment collections was a condition the redevelopment agency accepted in 2013 after Utah County objected to an open-ended amount, according to the agency's meeting minutes. ^[1][2]

Our Oct. 14 story reported $3,279,538 in agency receipts for tax years 2023 through 2025 after the agency's reports said $213,198 remained under the cap. The $3,066,340 difference is a comparison with that reported figure. The records reviewed do not reconcile the cumulative total behind it, so it is not an established overcollection or repayment amount. ^[6]

How the cap was set

At the agency's Oct. 22, 2013 meeting, consultant Cami Hamilton said Utah County objected to an open-ended amount of increment. Board member Heidi Rodeback said the agency wanted its full 75% share without an annual dollar limit and would stop collecting once an overall limit was reached. ^[1]

The board voted unanimously to advance the proposal. The attached amended budget caps agency increment received after tax year 2012 at $9,262,291, with collections ending when the cap is reached or the outside term expires, whichever comes first. ^[1]

The Dec. 10, 2013 minutes report a favorable Oct. 24 vote by the taxing entity committee. A 2016 city report cites Resolution 2013-10-01R and says the project's 2028 expiration applies only if the cap has not already been reached. The Ledger has not obtained the executed committee resolution or its complete final exhibits. ^[2][3]

Two figures in the June 2024 packet

The agency's June 11, 2024 packet includes an annual report that lists no authorized funds for 2024, no project area funds for 2025 and no projected increment for 2024 through 2028. The proposed fiscal 2024–25 Egg Farm budget in the same packet lists $1,010,000 in revenue, including $800,000 of increment and $200,000 designated for housing. ^[4]

Neither document, on its own, states any new authority to collect beyond the cumulative cap. ^[4]

The cumulative totals

The agency's repeated remaining-cap figure rests on $9,049,093 it reports receiving through tax year 2022. Adding the 2021 and 2022 receipts in later tables to the cumulative figure in the 2021 report gives $8,272,031, which is $777,062 less. The records reviewed do not explain the difference. ^[5][6][7]

A $11,572,394 whole-area increment figure in the 2020 report reappears in the 2022 project table, and the 2023 table then adds agency-share receipts. The whole-area figure included a 25% share passed through to other taxing entities. The records reviewed do not show how the $9,049,093 total was calculated. ^[8][9][7]

The State Tax Commission's year-end 2025 schedule records $1,150,048.02 paid for Egg Farm, matching the agency's rounded figure for tax year 2025. ^[10]

Receipts, spending and the developer

The 2026 report's later expenditure rows divide each year's receipts about 5% to administration, 20% to housing and 75% to project expenses. These are allocations, not a record of payments. ^[6]

The actual column for fiscal 2025 in the city's fiscal 2027 adopted budget shows $1,108,831 in increment and $145,748 in interest. It shows $251,739 in spending: $32,367 for administration, $19,372 for road widening and a $200,000 transfer to the culinary water fund. The fund's balance rose from $3,489,595 to $4,492,435. The previously reported $5.3 million is the budget's estimate for the end of fiscal 2026. ^[11]

The developer's reimbursement was separate. The 2021 report shows $4,288,509 paid, including $1,042,565 in interest, with the final $291,273 payment in fiscal 2021 and nothing left owed. The records reviewed do not show later agency receipts going to the developer. ^[5]

The agency discussed a possible COVID-19 extension of collection periods in October 2021; the minutes do not record one being adopted. The state law that allowed such extensions keeps cumulative dollar caps in place. ^[12][13]

On Oct. 15, The Ledger sent American Fork a records request for the cap ledger, the 2013 committee resolution and the fund's disbursements, and sent separate questions to Alpine School District and Utah County. No response has been received. We will update this story when they reply.