OGDEN — The Ogden City Council is mulling a proposal that would set in motion a plan to provide tax incentives to aid the expansion of one of Junction City’s largest employers.

The Ogden administration wants the Council to adopt a resolution that would designate a “Flagship Survey Area” inside one parcel of land at the Business Depot Ogden, which is being targeted for development by Amer Sports.

Designating the survey area is the first step in creating a Community Reinvestment Area at the parcel, which, if established, would lock in the current tax valuation of the property for 10 years, diverting the future property tax increases of up to about $2.5 million back to Amer for the redevelopment at the site. Known as tax increment financing, the tool is often used by Ogden City as an incentive for developers to build.

Amer, the Helsinki, Finland-based sporting goods company, first opened a headquarters office in Ogden at the American Can building in 2007. The company operates subsidiaries like Salomon, Wilson, Atomic, Arc’teryx, Peak Performance, ENVE, Suunto and Precor.

Brandon Cooper, Ogden’s deputy director of community and economic development, said the company’s expansion plan involves the lease and buildout of a building at the BDO, a facility that would be used for warehousing and distribution. Amer’s plan could potentially include a significant investment in interior renovations and the installation of approximately $30 million in fixtures and equipment, Cooper said, along with 155 jobs.

“We’re trying to accommodate Amer’s continual growth and development in Ogden,” Cooper said of the potential deal.

Cooper said the proposal is essentially a follow-up on a commitment previously made.

In 2019, Amer was awarded a $1.3 million economic development tax increment financing package from the state, along with a $300,000 grant from the Utah State Industrial Assistance Fund. Cooper said both of those funding sources require a local match and proof of assistance from the local municipality. But Ogden wasn’t able to finalize its participation until a larger TIF district at the BDO expired.

When the old Defense Depot Ogden (the current BDO site) closed in 1997 after a Department of Defense base realignment and closure round, the federal government deeded Ogden City all of the land and facilities associated with the old military installation for free. The city ultimately entered into a partnership with Salt Lake City-based real estate developer the Boyer Co., which included a $12 million bond (about $30 million in 2021 dollars) that funded initial infrastructure improvements and the creation of the DDO Redevelopment Area, which froze the facility’s tax valuation and put the revenue generated from property tax increases back into the development — the same method being proposed for the Amer site.

Since the initial deal was made, the bond has been paid off and the tax increment collection period expired in 2020.

Cooper said designating a TIF district for a single parcel of land and a single company isn’t typically how Ogden’s Redevelopment Agency operates, but said in this case, the method was the only way to provide a needed local match and is appropriate. He said the non-Ogden City taxing entities involved, including Weber County and the Ogden School District, have expressed support for the idea.