Snowbasin expansion plans edge ahead with creation of new taxing entities
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- Earl’s Lodge at Snowbasin, on the right, and the main parking area at the Weber County ski resort are shown in this undated photo, taken from a ski slope. The area around Earl’s Lodge is to be turned into a “resort village,” per expansion plans announced Thursday, Sept. 21, 2021.
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- These plans show proposed long-term development envisioned by Snowbasin officials around Earl’s Lodge, the resort’s main gathering spot. Earl’s Lodge is shown on the right side of the cluster of envisioned development depicted in the middle of the plans. A proposed Club Med resort is shown in the upper right-hand corner of the plans.
HUNTSVILLE — Moves to dramatically expand Snowbasin have taken a step forward with creation of three new taxing entities that will be able to collect up to $300 million in property taxes to fund proposed infrastructure improvements at the ski resort.
“This is very important to propel the future of Snowbasin,” resort spokesperson Kayla McFarland said in a statement to the Standard-Examiner. Public improvement districts, or PIDs — the generic name for the public entities created as part of Snowbasin’s plans — “stir growth, which will benefit the local economies, but not burden them with any costs or financial risk,” he added.
Snowbasin sought formation of the PIDs and Weber County Commissioners last week approved creation of the three entities — Mount Ogden Public Infrastructure Districts Nos. 1, 2 and 3. In doing so, Commissioner Gage Froerer emphasized that the taxing and revenue-generating authority is limited to the boundaries of the three PIDs — which encompass land all owned by Snowbasin — not the broader public.
Weber County taxpayers “need to make sure that they understand that there’s literally no liability, no tax consequences that are going to come their way now or in the future because of this PID,” he said at the Nov. 22 meeting when commissioners unanimously approved PID creation. No one spoke at the public hearing held before commissioners acted.
The funding generated will be used for a wide range of possible infrastructure improvements needed to serve the massive proposed expansion, which could take 20 years or more to fully develop. Those potentially include upgrades to water, sewer, electricity, stormwater, parking and road systems; creation of a fire station; and other improvements “necessary to further expand Snowbasin into a world-renowned resort community,” McFarland said. Senate Bill 228, approved by Utah lawmakers in 2019, lays the groundwork to create PIDs.
One of the most immediate Snowbasin upgrade plans calls for construction of a 300-room Club Med hotel on the grounds of the Old Day Lodge, now demolished, and the Wildcat parking area. That’s southeast of Earl’s Lodge and the main Snowbasin resort complex.
The three PIDs will be governed by boards of trustees made up of the same trio of officials — Snowbasin Director of Finance Tim Hendon, Grand America Hotels and Resorts Chief Financial Officer Dave Hirasawa and Bill Fiveash, managing partner of East West Partners. Grand America Hotels and Resorts owns Snowbasin while Park City-based East West Partners is helping with development plans.
The boundaries of the three PIDs covers around 400 acres, encompassing the resort’s “base area” around the Wildcat, Canyon Rim, Earl’s and Maples parking areas. Aside from the Club Med, the expansion plans, as now envisioned, call for creation of a commercial village, additional lodging, possibly a second hotel and more within that footprint.
“It’ll bring additional tourists to our area. It’s going to bring additional people to Ogden Valley, but that’s just the way it is,” Froerer said at the Nov. 22 meeting.
The funds the PIDs could generate would come in the form of property taxes on property within the boundaries of the three districts. For now, Snowbasin owns all the land, but if it were to sell any, resort operators would be required to tell would-be buyers about the potential tax liability they’d face.
The maximum the three Snowbasin PIDs could generate is $300 million over 40 years via bonds with terms of up to 31 years, according to Christopher Crockett, a deputy attorney in the Weber County Attorney’s Office. Ultimately, any infrastructure developed by the PIDs would have to be transferred to other existing entities, like the Trappers Loop Water Improvement District, a new water district, or the Mountain Green Sewer District, which offers sewer services in the area.
While the limit that can be raised is $300 million, “the practical debt limit will be determined by the market and the amount of bonding capacity that is generated by property taxes from new development,” McFarland said.