Cottonwood Heights incorporation bid begins

Salt Lake County could have its 15th city by the start of summer.

Organizers of a drive to incorporate Cottonwood Heights submitted a petition to the county clerk Tuesday morning that will probably lead to a May special election. Gordon Nicholl, chairman of the incorporation committee, said the signatures gathered on the petition had far exceeded the required one-third of property owners and that he was confident there would be no problem putting the question to voters.

The county clerk's office will have 45 days to certify the petition, although Nicholl and fellow committee members plan to begin the campaign for incorporation following the holiday season, a task he said he will relish. The process will also allow critics of the incorporation plan to get their message out, although he was not worried about what the voters might hear from opponents.

"We're in the stretch that will give us a chance to get to the public, and we can inform them," Nicholl said. "I'm sold on the idea of being a city, but I want the citizens to get the information and make their own decisions about what is best."

A May election, while more challenging to get people to the polls, will actually allow the residents to get their arms around the complicated proposal that could get lost in the November state and national elections, Nicholl said.

"Whenever you have a special election, (getting voters to the polls) is something you worry about," he said. "It is the responsibility of the county and the sponsors to get the word out."

If approved, Cottonwood Heights would have just over 34,000 residents and would be be bordered by Holladay on the north, Creek Road on the south, the Wasatch-Cache National Forest on the east, and 1300 East on the west.

For incorporation to move forward, sponsors were forced to eliminate about 10,000 people south of Creek Road who were originally part of the new city. Tax revenues were greater than the 105 percent of expenses allowed by state law. The new city will have 104.5 percent of revenues when compared with expenses, amounting to about $1.7 million in tax revenue that is not needed for municipal services.

County Councilman Russell Skousen, who lives in the unincorporated area of the county and would represent part of the new city, said he can support the new city if the residents decide they want to gamble on the possibility of higher taxes, decreased services and even Holladay-style political infighting to gain more local control. However, he is concerned that the incorporation would hurt the other unincorporated residents, primarily because of lost revenue.

"The incorporation was designed to get the most possible revenue, to take money from their neighbors, essentially," he said. "Those people outside of the city will lose 5 percent of their money. They will have to subsidize the new city."

Mayor Nancy Workman, who supports the residents' "self-determination" when it comes to their local government, said she did not expect the revenue loss to deliver a major financial blow to the county.

"It will take some revenues from the county, so we'll have to look at the budget," she said. "It will take some planning, but it's not huge."

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E-mail: jloftin@desnews.com