Incorporation measure dies in Utah House as legislative session comes to an end

The Ogden Valley in Weber County, photographed Sunday. A measure Ogden Valley incorporation boosters feared would have hampered their efforts, SB252, died as the Utah legislative session came to an end on Friday.

The Ogden Valley in Weber County, photographed Sunday. A measure Ogden Valley incorporation boosters feared would have hampered their efforts, SB252, died as the Utah legislative session came to an end on Friday. (Tim Vandenack, KSL.com)


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SALT LAKE CITY — A bill that would have changed some of the guidelines governing the process to create new cities in Utah fell by the wayside as the legislative session came to an end Friday night.

SB252 got the OK from the Utah Senate in a 26-2 vote last Tuesday, and came close to getting consideration by House lawmakers late Friday night. But it didn't make it over the finish line as the session came to an end at midnight and died.

"We're calling it a huge victory for the people banding together and holding our ground," David Carver said Saturday. He is among the Ogden Valley residents in Weber County boosting incorporation who had closely watched SB252's progress.

SB252 would have raised the revenue standards for communities considering incorporation, ostensibly to make sure new locales are financially self-sustaining. Feasibility studies completed as part of the process of becoming a city would have had to show anticipated tax revenues in a community exceeding costs by 10%, up from 5%.

A provision originally in SB252 would have retroactively applied the higher 10% threshold to incorporation processes that have already started but aren't yet complete. That sparked strong opposition among Ogden Valley incorporation proponents and lawmakers later removed the provision. Carver and others, though, worried the revamped SB252 could still have hampered their efforts.

The next step in the Ogden Valley incorporation process will be a public meeting, probably in May, held by the consultants who studied the feasibility of converting unincorporated areas encompassing Eden, Liberty and others into a new city. Boosters see incorporation as a means of maintaining local control as development pressures mount, but others in the Ogden Valley fear creating a new city could result in higher property taxes.

The other Utah locales where incorporation processes are pending are Benson in Cache County, West Hills in Summit County, Riddermark in Iron County and Spring Lake in Utah County.

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Utah LegislaturePoliticsUtahWeber County
Tim Vandenack covers immigration, multicultural issues and Northern Utah for KSL.com. He worked several years for the Standard-Examiner in Ogden and has lived and reported in Mexico, Chile and along the U.S.-Mexico border.

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