Businesses to get chance to speak

For years, numerous businesses located in unincorporated areas of Salt Lake County have tried to avoid the potential for higher property taxes that would come with becoming part of a nearby municipality, and this week, those businesses will have the opportunity to voice their concerns to county officials.

Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon is scheduled to attend a community meeting Friday to discuss HB40, which prompted the creation of the County Township and Unincorporated Area Survey. The open house is scheduled for 8 to 9 a.m. on Friday in the barn at Wheeler Historic Farm in Murray.

"Businesses' owners often pay a disproportionate amount of property taxes, because legislation usually offers a tax break to homeowners," said Janice Houston, senior policy analyst at the Center for Public Policy and Administration at the University of Utah. "This survey allows those business owners the opportunity to address that issue."

Small businesses are sometimes forced to join cities against their will when petition drives seeking incorporation acquire enough signatures from other area property owners that all properties within a designated boundary are annexed into a municipality. This survey gives those businesses a pre-emptive voice against unwanted annexation, Houston said.

The legislative intent of HB40 was included to ensure that Salt Lake County and the cities residing within and adjacent to townships work together to determine the desire of the residents and property owners within the townships.

Beginning next month, property owners in Salt Lake County's unincorporated townships will receive surveys which will ask them to voice their opinion to local leaders and the state Legislature on the form of local governance they prefer. The survey will ask property owners about their desire to incorporate as a new city, annex into a nearby city or remain in unincorporated areas. Surveys must be submitted by April 15.

The primary impact will be on property taxes, Corroon said. Changes in governance can also impact law enforcement, utilities, roads, zoning and all the other services of government.

While survey results are nonbinding, they will be taken under advisement by Salt Lake County officials, municipalities and township residents as they consider future annexation and incorporation, said Houston, who wrote the eight-question survey. The results of the survey will be presented to the Political Subdivisions Subcommittee of the state Legislature later this year.

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