The claim this page tests
Before the mechanism and the map — the actual thing being argued, stated plainly, so it can be checked rather than assumed.
When a PID or TIF district diverts the tax increment from new growth into a restricted debt service fund, the county, school district, fire district, and water district never get credit for that growth on their books — even though they still have to serve it: more rooftops, more students, more calls, more water and road demand.
If the increment can't cover both the debt payments and the real cost of that added service burden, the gap has only two places to come from: a higher certified tax rate on everyone outside the district, or cuts to services / reserves.
✓ Mechanism confirmed by Utah State Auditor's office (Aug 2026) — disclosure of that link to the public is not yet confirmed anywhereFollow the increment
Click each stage. This is the actual path a tax dollar takes once a PID or TIF freezes the base year.
The shortfall in the diagram above has to be covered somehow. Pick one:
Two districts already showing the strain
Schematic, not to scale — for orientation only. Click a pin or a card. This is not a complete statewide inventory; it's what's confirmed so far.
The statewide number, growing
Municipal bonds issued for all PIDs statewide — the debt Utahns will ultimately be paying, confirmed directly by the State Auditor's office.
What's confirmed, what isn't yet
Confirmed, on the record
- State Auditor Tina Cannon's office confirmed the statewide PID debt figures directly (meeting Aug 10, 2026; written follow-up Aug 7, 2026 total).
- Cannon's office confirmed the increment-diversion mechanism in writing — that diverted revenue funds a restricted debt service fund the taxing entities never receive, and that the only levers to cover a resulting shortfall are a higher certified rate under Truth in Taxation, or cuts to services/reserves.
- Nordic Village PID financials pulled from board minutes, budget documents, and the Preliminary Official Statement for its bond issuances.
- Wohali's Chapter 11 filing (Aug 2025) is public record.
Not yet confirmed
- Whether individual taxing entities disclose PID/TIF diversion as a specific cause when presenting rate increases to the public under Truth in Taxation — this is the open question currently out to the Auditor's office.
- A statewide, entity-by-entity accounting of which counties/districts have raised rates specifically because of increment diversion.
In Cannon's own words (from correspondence)
"...the taxing entities are stuck paying for the added service burden without getting the added revenue to cover it. That gap has to be filled from somewhere, and the only place they can pull it from is the tax rate on everyone else..."
"It gets made up by everyone else paying a higher rate, or by everyone else getting less service — there's no third funding source that appears to cover the gap."