Syracuse RDA turned down a change to the EOS gym rebate after missed conditions
In April 2025 the Redevelopment Agency board unanimously denied a developer's request to amend the EOS gym's tax-increment rebate agreement. Staff had reported that footings were not finished by the agreement's deadline and that the permitted pool was smaller than the agreement required.
Continuing story: Auditing Syracuse
Syracuse's Redevelopment Agency board unanimously denied a request on April 8, 2025 to amend the tax-increment rebate agreement for the EOS gym, according to minutes approved May 13, 2025. [1]
The request came from Perry Commercial after staff flagged two conditions in the agreement that had not been met, the minutes say. [1]
The agreement
According to the minutes, the agency approved an incentive agreement on March 20, 2020 for 75% of the property tax increment generated by the project. On April 9, 2024, the city approved an amended agreement raising the rebate to 100%. [1]
What staff reported
Staff told the board that Section 6.1.2 of the agreement required all footings to be poured by Nov. 1, 2024. An inspection on Nov. 4 found about 50% poured. The minutes say the footings are now complete and construction is continuing. [1]
Section 3.3 of the original agreement requires a lap pool with at least three 8-foot lanes and a length of 25 yards, or 75 feet. Staff said the building permit shows a pool 66 feet long and 22 feet wide with three lanes of 7 feet 4 inches. The pool contractor said 66 feet is a common length for EOS pools, according to the minutes. [1]
The vote
Boardmember Paul Watson said the board had already extended deadlines and increased the incentive, and that both the deadlines and the pool requirement were not met. Boardmember Jordan Savage said the pool was subsidized because the city has no pool, and that "agreements matter, and words matter." Boardmember Brett Cragun said approving amendments after noncompliance would set a precedent for future negotiations. [1]
Boardmember Jennifer Carver moved to deny the amendment and Watson seconded. The motion passed unanimously. [1]
The construction and pool observations are staff's account as recorded in the minutes, not a court or engineering finding. The vote denied an amendment; the minutes do not say the agreement was terminated or that any payment was withheld or recovered.
Sources
Reporting by The Utah Ledger from the public records above. AI-assisted, checked against those records.