Verk Industrial Project

Verk was created to facilitate additional industrial growth west of Main Street and around the Spanish Fork Airport.

Industrial growth increases the property tax base and revenue and adds high-paying jobs that enhance the quality of life in the community.

No. The Utah Inland Port Authority’s involvement in the project is strictly as a funding mechanism. There will be industrial development and job growth in the project area, but it will not be an inland port or any other facility operated by the Utah Inland Port Authority.

The Utah Inland Port Authority allows the Verk Industrial Project area to use tax differential to fund public infrastructure.

Infrastructure such as roads, power, sewer and water are currently not available in areas that have been planned for industrial growth.  The funding provided by Verk will allow for the needed infrastructure to be constructed in a premeditated, orderly manner to meet both current and future needs.

Tax differential is the new property taxes created when the value of a property increases after new development compared to the same property’s pre-development value.

Consider this hypothetical example: A 50-acre parcel of land is currently being used as farmland. For purposes of this example, let’s suppose that this 50-acre parcel of land pays $1,000 a year in property taxes. Once paid, that $1,000 in taxes are distributed to the various taxing entities, such as the School District, City, County and others, based on their individual tax rates.

The farmer then sells the land to a new owner who decides to develop the property as a new business. After the development is completed, the taxable value of the property has increased and the taxes now paid in a year are $100,000.

The tax differential in this example is $99,000. The original $1,000 is not tax differential. All taxing entities will continue to receive their base amount from that original $1,000. Portions of the new tax differential will be split, with a percentage going to the taxing entities and a percentage going to the VERK Industrial Project, to be used for public infrastructure.
Additionally, the tax differential has an expiration date when taxes return to the taxing entities.

Yes. There will be an increase in truck traffic in the Verk Industrial Project, but not in residential neighborhoods.

The project area is ideally situated near State Highway 77 and the Springville 400 South Interchange on the north and the Spanish Fork Main Street Interchange on the south. Plus, the new Dry Creek Parkway (2700 N) Interchange is under construction right in the middle of the project area. These three interchanges make this area ideally suited to move goods on the State’s already existing freeway network and off City streets.

No. Property tax rates are not affected by the creation of the project.

Impacts on agricultural operations will be minimal. Those farming land in this area will continue to have their existing property rights and access to irrigation water as before. Fields that are developed are fields that have been sold by prior land owners. No land has or will be taken. All land is purchased.

No. The maps that have been studied indicate that burial grounds are not even close to the project area. The City has worked to ensure that no current or former Native American lands are affected.

EDCUtah (Economic Development Corporation of Utah) has some excellent resources about the port projects in the state: EDC Utah FAQs about UIPA. You can also visit the UIPA project page and explore the latest interlocal project documents.