Millcreek Incorporation - Q & A
Follow this link to see Q & A from the July 17, 2011 Public Hearing
--General FAQs--
How do I contact individuals involved in this process?
Please see the contacts page.
Who was on the Feasibility Study Selection Team?
Nichole Dunn, Deputy Mayor
John Bennett, Quality Growth Commission
Dan Lofgren, Incorporation Petition Member
Who was the consultant selected to conduct the Feasibility Study?
Lewis, Young, Robertson & Burningham
http://www.lewisyoung.com/
How many petition signatures were required to get the issue on the November 2012 ballot?
Per Utah State Law (Section 10-2-109, Utah Code) 10% of registered voters in 90% of Millcreek Township voting precincts were required.
Millcreek Township has 51 voting districts. The requirement meant that 10% of registered voters in at least 46 precincts were needed. The appropriate amount of signatures were gathered in 48 voting precincts.
Of the 8,293 signatures submitted to the Clerk's office, 6,847 were validated; thus exceeding the required amount.
What is a voting precinct, and what does it have to do with Millcreek incorporation?
Each municipality and unincorporated area in Salt Lake County has a select number of precincts. Precincts are a designated voting section of your community. They are the most basic units that elections are organized through. Each precinct has a certain number of people located in it. Depending on the size this can range from a couple hundred people to over a thousand.
Under state law, those in favor of Millcreek incorporation must acquire petition signatures in at least 10% of a specific precinct. For example: in a precinct of 600 people at least 60 signatures must be gathered.
The second part of the law states that in order for the signatures to count they must come from at least 90% of the precincts. Meaning that of the 51 precincts in Millcreek, 46 of them must have at least 10% of their residents sign the petition.
Is there any other way besides this process for the residents of Millcreek Township to get information regarding becoming their own city and then be allowed to vote on that choice of governance?
This is the only process outlined in state statute that allows for incorporation of an unincorporated community. There are alternative processes for communities interested in annexation. There is no action required to remain a part of the unincorporated county.
Is the Wikstrom study still relevant?
No. That study was a policy document, not a statutorily required document and does not meet the standards outlined in statute. Further, it focused on different assumptions and based on different criteria, but looked at similar ideas. This was also done before Unified Police District was formed, so it is outdated.
What are the statutory criteria required by law for the study?
(i) the population and population density within the area proposed for incorporation and the surrounding area;
(ii) the history, geography, geology, and topography of and natural boundaries within the area proposed to be incorporated and the surrounding area;
(iii) whether the proposed boundaries eliminate or create an unincorporated island or peninsula;
(iv) whether the proposed incorporation will hinder or prevent a future and more logical and beneficial incorporation or a future logical and beneficial annexation;
(v) the fiscal impact on unincorporated areas, other municipalities, local districts, special service districts, and other governmental entities in the county;
(vi) current and five-year projections of demographics and economic base in the proposed city and surrounding area, including household size and income, commercial and industrial development, and public facilities;
(vii) projected growth in the proposed city and in adjacent areas during the next five years;
(viii) subject to Subsection (4)(c), the present and five-year projections of the cost, including overhead, of governmental services in the proposed city;
(ix) the present and five-year projected revenue for the proposed city;
(x) the projected impact the incorporation will have over the following five years on the amount of taxes that property owners within the proposed city and in the remaining unincorporated county will pay;
(xi) past expansion in terms of population and construction in the proposed city and the surrounding area;
(xii) the extension of the boundaries of other nearby municipalities during the past 10 years, the willingness of those municipalities to annex the area proposed for incorporation, and the probability that those municipalities would annex territory within the area proposed for incorporation within the next five years except for the incorporation; and
(xiii) whether the legislative body of the county in which the area proposed to be incorporated favors the incorporation proposal.
Were the Millcreek Township boundaries frozen to annexations before the Incorporation Feasibility Study threshold was reached? Are the boundaries frozen now that the Township is in this process? If so, how long will they remain frozen against annexations of adjacent cities?
The annexation law was most recently amended in 2009. Since that time, the annexation of an area within a township may be made possible if the area to be annexed is withdrawn from the township, or if the township is dissolved. At that point the area may be annexed according to statute. See Utah Code Annotated § 17-27a-306(3) for “withdrawal” and (4) for “dissolution.” In addition to withdrawal or dissolution, the annexation of a part of a township may be made by way of an “intra-township annexation.” See Utah Code Ann. § 10-2-408.5. An intra-township annexation may be made either by petition or through a city-sponsored annexation. This type of annexation requires: (a) the municipal legislative body’s approval of the annexation; and (b) the approval of the township withdrawal by (i) the county legislative body; or (ii) a committee if the county legislative body does not approve the township withdrawal.
Under UCA 10-2-403(5), a petition for annexation “located in the county of the first class may not propose the annexation of an area that includes some or all of an area to be incorporated in a request for a feasibility study … if: (a) the request or petition was filed before the filing of the annexation petition; and (b) the request, a petition [for an election based on a request for a feasibility study], … is still pending on the date the annexation petition is filed.”