MIDA Timeline | Transparent Utah Style

Report Section

MIDA

MIDA began with the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process of the early 1990s. The 1993 BRAC round closed the Tooele Army Depot, sending shockwaves statewide. The threat of future BRAC rounds, particularly 1995’s targeting Hill Air Force Base (Hill) and the Defense Depot Ogden (DDO), led to the formation of a lobbying group called Hill/DDO'95. This group focused on protecting Hill and DDO. Simultaneously, the Utah Defense Conversion Team was established to explore ways to mitigate the economic impact of any closures and to find new uses for the former military property. It soon became apparent that a statewide approach was needed to effectively advocate for all of Utah's military installations.

This led to the merging of the Defense Conversion Team and Hill/DDO'95 into a new organization: the Utah Defense Alliance (UDA). Over the years, UDA broadened the focus to include all of Utah's military installations and its mission was to present a united front to the Department of Defense, showcasing the strategic importance and value of Utah's military assets.

The catalyst for MIDA's formation was the federal "Enhanced Use Lease" (EUL) law, which allowed military installations to lease underutilized land to private developers for projects that would provide a benefit back to the military.The Utah State Legislature passed the bill creating MIDA in 2007. MIDA was established as a state authority with the power to facilitate development on military land, issue bonds, and manage the complex intergovernmental issues that arise in such projects. The initial MIDA board was a five-member body, with members appointed by the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House. Its executive director was Rick Mayfield, who held a similar position at UDA.

A common misconception is that MIDA replaced the UDA. The two organizations have always been separate, but continue to operate alongside one another with distinct roles. While UDA handles broad advocacy and lobbying. MIDA is a state-level governmental authority created to manage land use, issue bonds, and oversee economic development on underutilized military land. It functions as a "quasi-municipal" government with the authority to levy taxes and manage land use independently and without any other governmental oversight.

MIDA Organization

This chart summarizes MIDA entities, project areas, development review committees, public infrastructure districts, and related boards or organizations based on the entity relationship data.

MIDA Projects

This map places MIDA projects and project areas in their approximate locations. It is intended to provide a general understanding of where MIDA projects are located and how they relate geographically, rather than to serve as a precise survey or legal boundary map.

MIDA Annual Comprehensive Financial Report Data

The office of the Utah State Auditor does not audit MIDA, nor does it have control over the contracts awarded to the private auditing firm which performs MIDA’s annual audit. The following is a background and summary of MIDA based on a review of its submitted financial statements, legislation, available Open Public Meeting materials, MIDA published project reports, and other publicly available resources.

Key Powers

Current MIDA powers and authorities organized from UCA 63H-1 (Military Installation Development Authority Act.)

MIDA Board Member History

Current board members and statutory board structure based on the board-history data.

Legislative Changes

Bill-by-bill summaries of legislative changes reflected in the timeline.

MIDA Meeting Materials

Meeting notices, summaries, records, recordings, transcripts, and source citations reflected in the timeline.

Source Documents

Review the source documents used in this report.

Open Legislation Index Open Projects Index Open Meeting Materials Index Open Lt. Governor Documents Index

MIDA Public Timeline

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