Make Stansbury a City
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A feasibility study is used to determine if incorporation is feasible and to determine whether or not incorporation would place an additional tax burden on property owners in the proposed incorporated area.
LIST OF TOPICS
Current Government
Stansbury Park is an area of Unincorporated Tooele County. We pay taxes to Tooele County for the services from the County that we receive. The services that Unincorporated Tooele County property owners receive come from a line item in our property taxes called "Municipal Type Services."
Municipal Services
Cities provide services to their residents. Some services include public safety, roads, planning and zoning, fire protection, water, sewer, trash pick-up, parks, recreation, cemetery, business licenses, mosquito abatement, building permits and inspections. State law also allows for counties to provide these services to residents that live in unincorporated areas. Read more in the Utah code.
State law requires the county to pay for these services for unincorporated areas with funds provided exclusively by unincorporated residents and landowners. The county can't use general funds or funds from incorporated residents to pay for these services. Requiring a resident of Tooele city to pay for municipal services in Stansbury Park would be unfair because Tooele City residents are already paying for their own services. The tax money paid by residents of Unincorporated Tooele County goes into the Municipal Service Fund (MSF) that covers the cost of these services to residents of Tooele County. All residents of Unincorporated Tooele County pay the same MSF tax, however, Stansbury Park is the most populous community in Unincorporated Tooele County and as a whole, we pay the largest portion of the MSF in the County.
The county also provides some services to all residents in the county. Some examples of county services include marriage licenses, the county jail, voting, tax assessment, and property tax collection. These services are all paid for out of the general fund and are not considered municipal services. These services and how we pay for them will not change if Stansbury Park incorporates.
Service Districts
State law allows for counties to set up special service districts to help with providing municipal services to unincorporated areas. These service districts have their own boundaries. The district taxes only the area where services are provided. They also have their own elected boards and administrative costs. Each district can set its own property tax rate at its own scheduled meetings. State law says that special service districts can be sued and each is required to carry their own liability insurance.
Tooele County has set up five service districts for Stansbury Park. These five districts are currently providing many of the municipal services for Stansbury. The Stansbury Greenbelt District and the Stansbury Recreation District are operated jointly by the Stansbury Service Agency. This is why the Service Agency shows up as two different line items on your tax bill. The North Tooele Fire services Stansbury Park as well as Lake Point and Erda. The Mosquito Abatement District also includes Grantsville, but not Tooele City.
Our current form of government causes us to receive municipal services from 5 different government entities. Each one of these entities has its own elected officials and its own administrative costs. It can be challenging at times for Stansbury Residents to know whom to call when they have questions about services. It can also be difficult to track different public hearings at various times of the day. Tooele City, on the other hand, receives all its municipal services from one single government entity.
If Stansbury Park does incorporate, the new city government will be responsible for the services currently provided by the county. Roads, public safety, planning and zoning, building permits, and inspections are some of the things that the new government will have local control over. The new city government will also receive the revenue that is currently being paid by the residents for these services. The service districts will stay the way they are if we incorporate. The new city will not need to worry about fire, water, sewer, parks and recreation, and mosquito abatement.
In the future, it is possible for the city to take on the responsibilities of one or more of the service districts. This can only happen if Stansbury Park becomes a city. The elected city council and the service districts would have to follow a process that includes public hearings. A decision like this would only happen if approved by local elected officials that can demonstrate that it is in the best interest of Stansbury Park.
Representation
Prior to 2020, Tooele County had three County Commissioners that were voted on by the entire County; one from Tooele City, one from Grantsville City, and one from Stockton. What was the impact? Commissioners from outside of Stansbury Park were deciding when we paid higher taxes, but they don't have to pay the new taxes themselves. In fact, when the incorporation of Stansbury Park and Lake Point failed in 2016 the County Commissioners increased the Municipal Service Tax for Unincorporated Tooele County by 36% for 2017 (Utah Property Tax Division).
The county planning and zoning commission has seven members. Only one or two of the members on the commission at one time have been from Stansbury Park. Currently we have two Stansbury Park citizens on the Planning and Zoning Commission. In Tooele City, all of the planning and zoning decisions are made by residents of Tooele City. The county currently has the responsibility to provide economic development for Stansbury Park. We put them in a difficult position when they also want economic development for their own communities. How can we expect them to fight to improve the tax base in Stansbury when it might mean a new business won't go to their hometown instead?
Under our current setup, we have more elected officials for municipal services than Grantville and Tooele combined. Tooele City elects five council members and a mayor who has control over all their municipal services. Stansbury Park currently elects three board members for the water district, six board members for the service agency, five board members for the North Tooele Fire District, and we also vote on one County Councilman out of five, that represents Stansbury Park in Region 4, that control the rest of our services. Some residents have expressed concern over whether Stansbury Park has enough residents who would step up to fill city positions. We have more elected officials than other cities, and we have had many others run for service district positions but were not elected.
We currently have excellent representation for our service districts because our districts require board members to live in the district they represent. We have one County Councilman, that lives in Stansbury Park, that represents all of Stansbury Park, Lake Point, Lincoln, and four voting precincts in Erda. Residents in each region of the county get to vote for the one Councilman position to represent their area.
Incorporation would mean that all the decisions on roads, planning and zoning, public safety, and economic development will be made by Stansbury Park residents. Stansbury Park would be able to plan its own growth and economic development. Stansbury Park would also have representation with UDOT and state lawmakers in regards to roads and other issues. Tax rates would be set by residents who will have to pay the tax rates they set. The local elected officials will also have to answer to the voters of Stansbury Park. Incorporation would be our best chance for a truly representative government.
Population
Stansbury Park has been rapidly growing by more than two times every ten years as indicated by population counts from the last 30 years (see below left) from the United States Census Bureau. There are currently no boundaries for Stansbury Park because we are not an incorporated city so the United States Census Bureau created a Census Designated Place (CDP) for Stansbury Park. The boundary for the Stansbury CDP (see below right)has changed several times over the past 30 years but is still outdated and does not include some portions of the community. You can see that the CDP does not include anything North and East of Stansbury Parkway, North of Hwy 138, or The Reserve by Perry Homes subdivision off of Hwy 36 and Bates Canyon Road. At the time of the previous incorporation effort in 2016, the population of Stansbury Park was 8,940 people. From the 2020 Census, the population was 12,809 which includes those areas of the community not included in the Stansbury Park CDP. Additionally, there has been a significant number of homes built since the 2020 Census that probably puts the population of Stansbury Park currently near 14,000.
If we vote to incorporate, Stansbury Park will be the 2nd largest city in the county and in the top 20% among all incorporated municipalities in the state. Much smaller cities in Tooele County like Wendover, Stockton, Rush Valley and even Ophir are incorporated. We are not too small to incorporate.
Some are concerned about incorporation because they don't want the community to continue to grow. Stansbury Park will continue to grow as long as land is available and will grow under our current form of government and staying unincorporated will not stop the growth. Changing the form of government to a city government will help us control the growth and better deal with the challenges that growth will bring.
Taxes
Stansbury Residents and other unincorporated areas currently pay property taxes, gas taxes, sales taxes, permits, licenses, and fees. The county uses this tax revenue to provide municipal services to Stansbury Park and other unincorporated areas. This same revenue that we pay now will be the revenue used by the city to pay for services after we incorporate.
The state collects all the gas tax paid in the state. The state then re-distributes the local portion of the gas tax to cities using a 50/50 rule. 50% of the tax is distributed by population and the other 50% is distributed by mileage. The state distributes the revenue directly to the cities. For unincorporated areas, the state distributes the money to the county to spend on unincorporated areas. It does not matter where the gas tax is collected. A city with no gas stations would receive the same amount of revenue from this formula as it would if it had gas stations on every corner.
This table shows the 2013 distribution of gas for Tooele County. The Lake Point and Stansbury Park allocations have been broken out from the other unincorporated areas using the state's formula. Notice that Lake Point's numerous gas stations made no difference to the distribution. Stansbury Park's distribution was over $8,000 per mile for road maintenance, the highest in the county. We have more people living on fewer roads, so there are more people to share the cost of maintaining each mile of roadway. View the raw data.
The state voted in 2015 to raise the gas tax 5 cents per gallon. The state began to collect the extra tax in 2016 and only recently began distributing the higher amount. The county is receiving the extra tax earmarked for Stansbury Park. When we incorporate, the city will receive that extra tax revenue. Read about the new tax.
Sales tax is also distributed using a 50/50 formula. The state collects all the sales tax and distributes a share to each city. For unincorporated areas the state distributes the money to the county. The local sales tax is divided with 50% going to the city where the tax was collected and the other 50% distributed by population. This table shows the 2013 sales tax distribution for Tooele County broken out by community:
You will notice two important things: first, Stansbury Park does not generate very much sales tax. It is about a third of the state average for a population our size. Lake Point is the only community in the county that generates more sales tax per capita than the state average. The second thing you will notice is that because of the 50/50 rule, Stansbury Park still receives a meaningful share of sales tax. Grantsville collected twice as much sales tax, but only received 13% more sales tax revenue. Lake Point collected 17% more sales tax but collected less than a third as much revenue because of their small population.
The state passed a second law in 2015 that allowed the county to put into law a new sales tax of 1/4 cent per dollar. Read about the new tax. This will increase the sales tax revenue for the county, and it will also increase the sales tax revenue for the city after we incorporate.
Building permits, inspection, and business licenses are examples of service that are generally covered by the fees of the applicant. Stansbury Park will collect the fees directly when we incorporate.
Proposed Boundary
The map below shows the boundaries of the proposed area that we are voting to become Stansbury Park.
A yes vote in November will make this boundary the city limits of Stansbury Park. It is important to note that we are not simply deciding to go from no municipal boundary to the boundary above. We actually have a municipal boundary today. Our boundary today consists of all the unincorporated areas of the county. This boundary is shown below in purple. It includes all areas of the county that are not yet cities.
What we are really doing this November is voting to change from a municipal boundary that includes the entire unincorporated county to a smaller city boundary. A yes vote would mean that we would have access to only the taxes generated by Stansbury Park, but we would only be required to pay for services provided to Stansbury Park. A yes vote would also mean that only people living in Stansbury Park would vote and elect leaders who also live in Stansbury Park. A no vote would mean that we continue with the unincorporated boundary, sharing all the revenue from the unincorporated area, but are required to share the cost of all the services to the entire unincorporated boundary. A no vote also means commissioners not living in the area control the decisions for our area.
Municipal Service Fund
The state requires Tooele County to maintain a separate Municipal Service Fund (MSF) for keeping track of all municipal services provided to the unincorporated areas. All the municipal revenue sources from unincorporated areas go into this fund and this fund is to be used only for providing municipal services to unincorporated areas. The county has a General Fund that is used for providing all the general county services to all areas of the county. Residents of cities only pay into the general fund. Unincorporated residents pay into both funds. The MSF is essentially the equivalent of our current city fund.
The MSF is a restricted fund because it can only be spent on unincorporated areas. The county also maintains a separate roads fund that is also a restricted fund because state law requires gas tax to only be spent on roads. In 2012 an independent auditor found that Tooele County was misusing both the MSF and the Roads fund. It was determined that the funds were used for Deseret Peak which is considered a countywide service. The county was required to pay back the misused funds. Read the audit report.
PILT
PILT is an acronym for Payment In Lieu of Taxes. Most of the land in the unincorporated areas is owned by the federal government. The federal government is not required to pay taxes, but the county still provides services for the federal land. Road maintenance is provided on federal land and the Sheriff's department spends time patrolling or responding to emergency calls. The distances traveled cost time, fuel, and mileage. The federal government provides PILT payments to counties to help cover costs because they don't pay property taxes.
Every ten years the state conducts a performance audit of counties' use of Municipal Service Funds (MSF) to determine if they are used appropriately. One key item checked in the audits is to verify that PILT is spent properly. The audit showed that counties using PILT properly place the money in the MSF and/or Road funds. read the 2010 audit. read the 1999 audit. In 2012 the county was placing $1.2 million of $3.2 million into the MSF. The rest of the money went to the general fund. They placed $825,000 of PILT in the MSF in 2015 and have reduced it to $450,000 for the 2016 adopted budget. So for 2016 only 13% of the PILT revenue is making it to the MSF. The county could be placing over $3 million more into the MSF than it is currently allocating.
County leaders claim the need to ween the unincorporated areas off PILT asserting that it may go away one day so we should not depend on it. The county may be eliminating PILT from the MSF, but the county general fund now depends on it. In a recent news article, a commissioner states that "PILT is vital to our budget." read the article. Stansbury Park will not receive PILT revenue when we incorporate, but Stansbury Park will no longer share responsibility for the services provided on federal land as well.
Administrative Costs
State law does provide the option for counties to charge the Municipal Service Fund for administrative costs. The county is allowed to charge administrative costs only for the costs of providing municipal-type services to the unincorporated areas. The county can't legally charge the MSF for any costs related to providing general county services to unincorporated areas. Read Utah law. For example, the county can charge for the administrative costs of providing planning and zoning for Stansbury Park residents, but they cannot charge the MSF for providing marriage licenses to Stansbury Park residents since marriage licenses are a general county service and the costs should come out of the general fund, and not the MSF. The county is also required to "strictly account" for and apportion the administrative costs to be able to demonstrate that administrative fees are only paying for municipal services.
In 2014 the county began charging the MSF for administrative fees. Since 2014 the budget shows a single line item transfer from the MSF to the General Fund. For the 2016 adopted budget the transfer is 47% of the total budget for administrative fees. The county has been asked at multiple public hearings to break out this number in better detail to demonstrate that all this money is providing municipal services. The purpose of having a Municipal Service Fund is to keep separate the unincorporated taxes so they aren't mixed with the General Fund. If 47% is simply transferred back to the General Fund, how can we know the money is spent appropriately?
A key takeaway from administrative costs is that we are currently paying administrative costs to the county. The city of Stansbury Park will have administrative costs. The taxes we now pay to the county for administrative costs will be put towards the city's administrative costs.
Municipal Service Tax
A Municipal Service Tax (MST) is a property tax levied on unincorporated areas to pay for municipal services. Residents of cities pay a property tax to their local city government. An MST is a comparable property tax for unincorporated areas. Stansbury Park currently pays for 6 separate MSTs. We pay an MST to each of the five service districts and we pay a new one to the county. The newest property tax was imposed in 2014.
The following chart shows what the total municipal property tax is for each community in the county for 2015. This chart does not include the county general tax or the school district tax as those are not municipal services and those rates are the same for all communities. You will see that Stansbury Park pays the highest rates in the county.
The county ran into financial problems in 2012. We heard many at the county complain that Stansbury Park does not pay their fair share. We were told that we don't pay a MST so the county should add one. We also heard that the cities were subsidizing the unincorporated areas and that Stansbury Park does not pay impact fees. Read the article.
None of the above claims are true. Stansbury Park was paying their fair share prior to 2012. Stansbury paid and continues to pay the highest tax rate in the county. The tax rate is multiplied by the property value so Stansbury was paying the highest overall tax. We already had five MSTs for the service districts that totaled to a value higher than what any city in the county was paying. Residents paid impact fees to some of the service districts, and Stansbury Park was already paying gas tax and sales tax to cover roads and public safety.
The county proposed the new property tax in 2013. Read the new municipal service tax proposal. Slide 2 of the proposal suggests the MST is statutorily required. This is not true. The Municipal Service Fund (MSF) is required, but the MST is not, especially with service districts in place.
The county asked for the new tax after getting caught misusing the road fund and the MSF revenue on Deseret Peak. The county asked for the new tax after proposing what could be $3,000,000 in PILT funding be withheld from the MSF and after proposing to transfer upwards of 47% of the municipal service funds into the general fund as administrative fees.
Tax Base
Concerns have been raised about the size of the tax base for Stansbury Park. People are generally concerned about the commercial tax base because a commercial tax base can help bring in both property tax revenue and sales tax revenue to a community. Commercial properties pay the tax rate multiplied by 100% of the market value of the property. In Utah, residential properties have a tax exemption that allows them to pay the tax rate multiplied by only 55% of the property value. Read the law. Also in Utah 50% of the local sales tax revenue is distributed to benefit the city where the tax was paid and not the community of the person who paid it. Read the law. Communities that are made up almost entirely of residential property don't have the help of commercial property taxes and local sales taxes so the entire burden of providing municipal services falls squarely on the residents.
Any time Stansbury Residents support businesses in Tooele or Salt Lake, they are providing sales tax and property tax revenue to those communities. Stansbury Park does have a small commercial tax base for the size of our population. The sales tax revenue generated is only about 1/6 the size it would need to be to reach the state average for a population our size.
Cities work on economic development and compete with other cities to improve the tax base and job opportunities for residents. It is currently the county's responsibility to provide us with economic development. Based on our current situation it is clear that they have lagged behind at keeping the tax base in Stansbury Park on par for a community our size. All three commissioners are from cities that engage in economic development and, in some cases; we would be asking them to work against their own communities.
Our small tax base does mean that we pay higher property taxes. However, it does not mean that we cannot incorporate. We are paying for all of our services, including administration costs, whether we incorporate or not. Some have said we should wait for a bigger tax base to incorporate. Stansbury Park's population is growing faster than our tax base. Our best chance to improve our tax base is to incorporate and conduct our own economic development.
Some residents don't want Stansbury Park to have more businesses and want to see it stay as residential as possible. This is a reasonable thing to desire, but it will result in high tax rates, much higher than communities that do have businesses and jobs. The best path for improving our tax situation is growing a stronger tax base and protecting the tax base we already have.
Boundary Protection
Salt Lake County has seen annexation changes for decades. Cities have been annexing commercial property from the unincorporated areas for some time. Cities have also worked hard to attract businesses while unincorporated areas have not. Magna never incorporated and while they do have some business, it is not comparable to other areas of Salt Lake County. Magna pays the highest property tax rate in the entire state. Compare tax rates. West Valley City annexed all the way up to 7200 W. which added the commercial properties on 5600 W. Had Magna incorporated and added those areas before West Valley, Magna would be in a better position today.
Here is an example of a Salt Lake City annexation of part of Millcreek.
Salt Lake City was able to annex the Brickyard Plaza. The shopping center is supported by Millcreek residents, but Salt Lake City receives the sales tax and property tax revenue. Millcreek was not a city at the time and had little power to stop the annexation. Millcreek voted to become a city last November.
These kinds of annexations can impact us as an unincorporated area. We currently have a municipal boundary that makes up the entire unincorporated area of the county. Any time a city in the county annexes businesses out of the unincorporated area, the revenue is moved from our tax base to the tax base of the city. Consider this annexation by Grantsville in 2014.
Grantsville now has the racetrack within city limits. It even reached across Sheep Ln to grab the distribution center. The taxes for the area no longer go to the MSF and to North Tooele Fire District. The taxes now belong to Grantsville City.
We should be mindful that Lake Point is voting on incorporation during the same election that we vote on incorporation. Lake Point's map does not currently include any of the businesses in Stansbury Park. If we vote no on incorporation, it is possible for them to annex the shopping centers we do have. If Lake Point were to annex the entire Soelburg's Shopping center all the way to the U of U clinic, an unincorporated Stansbury Park would have no say in the matter. The decision would be between the owner of the shopping center and Lake Point City Council.
The proposed boundary for Stansbury Park does include enough land to balance out our tax base. Stansbury Park needs to work on economic development to finish the shopping centers we have. The land on the east side of Highway 36 and west of the rail line can help provide a tax base to balance the new residential growth that is coming whether we incorporate or not. We need to incorporate to protect the tax base we have and to help grow a more balanced tax base in the future.
Feasibility Study
The state required the county to pay for an independent feasibility study to be conducted before we could vote to become a city. The study was completed in December 2014. The study showed that it is feasible for Stansbury Park to be a city. Read the study. The study was conducted by Lewis, Young, Robertson & Burningham, Inc. of Salt Lake City. State law requires the study to project what will happen to tax rates if we incorporate compared to what will happen to them if we don't. The projections are made five years out and they estimate what it would cost Stansbury Park to provide each service, including administration costs. The study estimates that by 2019, if we don't incorporate, a home valued at $170,000 would be paying an extra $53.79 per year in property taxes. It also estimated that if we do incorporate, our property taxes will go up by the same amount. The study showed that, while property taxes may be a little higher, in the long term, incorporation will be no more expensive than what we will pay if we don't incorporate.
The study also projected the impact on Stansbury Park if Lake Point incorporates and we do not. It estimated that by 2019 we would be paying $81.94 per year more than today. The increase is because the county will need to make up for some of the revenue that will go to Lake Point when they incorporate.
The study was completed at the end of 2014. At least one commissioner has made the case that the county has not raised property taxes as high as the study thought for 2016 so the study is somehow not valid. The study did project that the county would increase spending by 2016 and concluded it would need a property tax increase to do it. The county was able to increase total tax revenue higher than projected without the property tax increase because the state passed a new gas tax and the county passed a new sales tax. The study had no way of knowing those taxes would be put into law. The good thing for Stansbury Park is that the same gas tax and sales tax that allowed the county to reach projected spending without a property tax increase will also help the new city reach projected spending without the projected property tax increase.
Ballot
State law requires the ballot to have the following three questions on incorporation:
Shall the area described as (a description of the proposed city) be incorporated as the city of Stansbury Park?
If the above incorporation proposal passes, under what form of municipal government shall Stansbury Park operate? Vote for one:
Five-member council form
Six-member council form
Five-member council-mayor form
Seven-member council-mayor form
If the above incorporation proposal passes, shall members of the city council of Stansbury Park be elected by district?
The first question determines whether or not we incorporate. It will appear only on ballots of all registered voters who live in the proposed boundary. If you are not registered to vote at your current Stansbury address, register now. We will incorporate if the majority of votes cast vote yes. A tie vote means we do not incorporate.
It is important to answer the remaining questions even if you vote no on the first question. If incorporation passes, your input is still needed for the remaining questions. The second question will let you decide on the form of city government you want to have. The Utah League of Cities and Towns created a good description of the different forms of government. Read more about forms of government. Follow the link and read about all forms of government to help you decide which will work best for Stansbury Park.
The third question asks if Stansbury Park should have districts. If we vote yes to districts then the map will be divided into districts of about equal population. One city council member will be elected from each district. If we vote no, the city council will be elected at large. Districts spread out the representation and ensure that each area has a voice, but it can be difficult for a smaller city to have enough qualified candidates running from each area.
Vote by Mail
The county changed voting procedures for Stansbury Park and will require all Stansbury Park voters to vote by mail for all elections in 2016. This means that the incorporation election will be by mail.
The county did not change voting procedures for any other area of the county. Lake Point was already voting by mail prior to 2016 and will continue to do so. Tooele and Grantsville are still voting at the ballot box. The county cited the incorporation election as one of the reasons the change was made. Our County Clerk Marilyn Gillette delivered a presentation with more details on vote by mail. View the presentation.
Here are a few important things to remember:
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Everyone registered to vote in Stansbury Park will be mailed a ballot 21 days before the election.
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You must sign the ballot for your vote to count. They will verify signatures or contact you if they can't.
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You can mail back the ballot right after completing your vote, but it must be postmarked by the day BEFORE the election. Any ballot postmarked on Election Day November 8 DOES NOT COUNT.
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You can still vote early, but you will be required to turn in your mail-in ballot. Without your mailed ballot you will need to file a provisional ballot.
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There will be one electronic voting machine at Stansbury High School on Election Day. You will be required to turn in your mail-in ballot to vote in person. Without your mailed ballot you will need to file a provisional ballot.
Timeline
Utah law details a process for incorporation that takes years. It took several years to get to this point of voting on incorporation and it will take even more time before we actually become a city. Read the law.
State law requires incorporation to be a grass roots effort. The state, or even the county, cannot make the decision to change a community from unincorporated to being a city. The following steps highlight what has occurred and what will occur going forward.
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Residents create a map and circulate a petition to request the county commission a feasibility study.
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The petition is submitted to the county.
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The county clerk certifies that the petition has enough signatures and complies with state law.
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The county clerk presents the certified petition to the commissioners who create an RFP for the study.
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The study group is selected and the study is conducted.
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Two public hearings are conducted to present the results of the study and discuss incorporation.
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A second petition is circulated to put incorporation on the ballot.
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The petition is turned in and certified by the county clerk.
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The petition is turned over to the commissioners who then select which date the voting will take place.
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The election is conducted.
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A primary election is held for city council and mayor.
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A general election is held for city council and mayor.
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The new city is formed but the county and city work together during a one year transition period to ensure no gap in service.
The primary election will likely take place next June 2017 and the general election for the city council would take place in November 2017. This is good timing because other cities also hold municipal elections on the same day. Municipal elections are held on the odd years and federal elections are held on even years.
The actual city may be formed by January 1 2018. This would mark the beginning of a one year transition period where the county transfers over responsibility of each municipal service until all responsibilities are under local control. Both the county and the city will share revenue and expenses for municipal services during this time.
Future Government
Many questions have been asked about what the new city government will look like. What will change and what will not? From the timeline above you will see that the law requires the election of city officials before some future decisions are made. This is good because many of these key decisions should be made only by elected officials that represent the people. The law also provides a transition period with county assistance because some contract negotiations need to take place in the proper manner before decisions can be made.
Residents will be asked to take part in many of these decisions in several ways. As candidates campaign for public office they can share their ideas of how the city should provide services like public safety. Elect the officials whose plans you like the best. After the officials are elected they will ask you to take part in public hearings with specific plans. It is difficult to predict the future on all these changes, but it is possible to provide a picture of what it might look like.
Municipal services provided by service districts will not change. They will continue to be funded and operate as they do today. Learn more about service districts. Fire, water, sewer, parks, recreation, and mosquito abatement will be unchanged.
During the transition year administrative duties will be transitioned over to the new city government. Elected officials will need to hire new employees. They may hire a city manager or city administrator. Many small cities have only a part-time city council and a part-time mayor. A trained full-time manager can make the day to day decisions while the elected council makes the political decisions. A full-time manager or administrator can make the transition between different elected officials occur more smoothly. They can also be fired by the city council if needed. These positions will be funded by the same taxes that pay for our administrative costs today. Learn more about administrative costs.
What about a city hall? The city will not need to build a large city hall on day one. The city will need office space for employees but there are options. The city could do anything from renting space in a strip mall to leasing space from an existing service district. The city could even bring in office trailers and park them on land leased from the service agency as a short term solution. The time may come where building is better the renting. When that time comes the city could bond for a city hall. You won't likely see a city hall for some time.
Public Safety will be one of the largest expenses. The city will have the option to contract out public safety to an existing entity like the Tooele County Sherriff's Office or the Grantsville City Police Department. Another option would be to create our own police force. Creating our own police force is more expensive and is a decision that should wait until we have a better tax base. The county will be required to provide service until new contracts are in place. The sales taxes that pay for public safety now will fund the police contract when we incorporate. Learn more about taxes.
The responsibility for roads will also be a large expense. The county already bids out contracts for the larger road maintenance projects today. The city will contract those out as well. The city will likely not start out with a public works department so other road responsibilities will also need to be contracted.
Trash pick-up is mostly paid for by user fees. The new city could renegotiate a similar contract with the current provider. The new city council would also have the option of taking bids from an alternate provider.
Building permits and inspections can also be contracted out. The county has inspectors on staff but also contracts out when they have too much work. Engineering firms can be paid with the permit fees that the applicants are required to pay. The city can hire an engineer and an inspector when the time is right.
The main decision we need to make this November is whether or not we want to change our form of government. Decisions about who will represent us will happen next year.