The Salt Lake County clerk wants the County Council to decide — and fast — whether a school district split question will be on the ballot in November.

The council is trying to determine whether to ask voters to split both the Granite and Jordan school districts. But council chairman Mark Crockett has said a decision might not come until the first week of September.

Waiting that long could spell trouble for the clerk's office.

"That just causes problems down the road if they keep dragging it out," said Jason Yocom, chief deputy clerk. "It holds up the whole election for us."

Election law requires language for most ballot questions to be ready by Sept. 1 or 3. But the small school district law doesn't specify a specific deadline local officials must meet when determining if a split will go on the ballot or not, Yocom said.

The clerk's office has a lot of work to do before the election: program and test voting machines, train staff and mail out military and overseas ballots, just to name a few. The military and overseas ballots must be mailed out the first week of October.

And if west-side mayors come through on a promise to file a legal challenge testing the constitutionality of the school district split, that could set back things even further.

The council is putting off a vote on the school district split in the hope that the Legislature will call a special session to fix construction equalization concerns.

Mayor Peter Corroon said several questions need to be addressed before voters should be able to decide if the districts should be split. Along with the capital funding equalization issue, he wants to find out the impact on special-education programs if the school districts should split. He's also concerned about the future of Cottonwood High School. The school could end up closing if Granite District splits.

Corroon has asked the district attorney's office whether he could veto a move by the County Council to put the school district splits on the ballot.

On Monday, Corroon said that at this point, "it's not my intent to veto," since a firm legal opinion on his powers has not been issued yet.

But the mayor could change his mind if he knew his veto power was certain, Corroon said. "I can't make a decision until we're at the point where I have all the facts and have a concrete opinion," Corroon said.

The mayor can only veto a 5-4 vote, which will likely happen. The County Council is heavily divided on the school district split issue.

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