Utah cuts liability on incentives – New structure helps ensure that companies fulfill promises.

When business software giant Oracle Corp. asked for incentive money last year to build an impressive $300 million data center in West Jordan, state officials put together a hefty $15.1 million package to help seal the deal.

But even a large stimulus has been no match for the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. Today, work on that 200,000-square-foot project — only the foundation has been poured — is on hold.

There is no shortage of stalled corporate expansion projects in this recession, in Utah or anywhere else. But the way the state has structured the increasingly large sums it offered as incentives in recent years has helped reduce its financial liability.

By Lesley Mitchell

The Salt Lake Tribune

Full Story: http://www.sltrib.com/business/ci_13479389