Some county-line straddlers are living on the edge

DRAPER — It's a simple fact: If you live in Draper, you live in Salt Lake County, right?

Well, for Draper resident Sherri Hosieni, that's only true part of the time. It all depends on which part of the house she's in.

Hosieni is one of a handful of residents of the SunCrest development that sits atop Traverse Ridge whose homes were built straddling the county line. The development's Oak Vista subdivision sits partially in Salt Lake County and partially in Utah County, so walking from house to house — unless you're walking with a county surveyor — you can never be completely sure whose house is in which county.

But Hosieni says her home's schizophrenia doesn't trouble her on an everyday basis.

"It doesn't really present any problems," she said.

The logistical problems one might expect of living in two counties have been overcome largely by SunCrest's status as a special services district.

When the SunCrest neighborhood was first proposed 15 years ago, everyone knew it was going to sit in both counties. After all, the idea was to build a ridge-top development, and the county line was drawn to follow that ridge line.

The solution, the creation of a special services district, means SunCrest contracts with Draper City for most of its utilities and services, from water to fire and police service. Sewage is handled by the South Valley Sewer District, though there is an agreement with the Timpanogos Special Services District to treat sewage that flows south by virtue of gravity.

"There are a few issues you have to deal with when you have one city and two counties, but I think they're minimal," SunCrest's Ed Grampp said. "It seems as if really the issues are more with those lots that have been platted that are currently in two counties."

And the primary issue for those homes, everyone agrees, is property tax. County line straddlers receive their services from Draper just the same as SunCrest's one-county residents, but when it comes to paying taxes, they have to answer to both counties.

So the auditors from both counties use a complex formula to split those residents' taxes between the two counties. The issue is further complicated because Salt Lake County's tax rate is higher than Utah County's, but residents like Hosieni trust the auditors and mortgage companies to sort that all out.

"It seems to be equitable," Hosieni said.