Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
- Rep. Jordan Teuscher proposes HB533 to allow Salt Lake County to split if cities agree.
- The bill requires a feasibility study and majority voter approval, affecting counties with over 1 million residents.
- Mayor Jenny Wilson opposes the bill, citing increased tax burdens, while the County Council remains undecided.
SALT LAKE CITY — One Utah lawmaker has introduced a bill that could pave the way for splitting Utah's largest county, but only if enough cities band together to set out on their own.
Utah already has a process by which counties can break off from one another, but it requires the collection of signatures from at least a quarter of all registered voters in the county and has only been used twice since Utah became a state in 1896. The most recent county, Daggett County, was formed in 1918 because residents of the northern part of Uintah County were forced to travel up to 800 miles by rail around the Uintah Mountains to reach the county seat in Vernal.
Rep. Jordan Teuscher, R-South Jordan, admits the same dynamics aren't a factor in modern Salt Lake County, but said the sheer size of the county's population makes the conversation worth having.
He's sponsoring HB533, which would allow neighboring cities with a combined population of at least 330,000 to vote to form their own county — but only if a majority of all voters in the county agree. After the cities pass resolutions to form a new county, the county council would be required to conduct a "feasibility study" to inform residents of the impacts of a split.
Those provisions apply only to counties with at least 1 million residents. Salt Lake County is currently the only entity impacted, but the bill could apply to Utah County and others as they grow.
"I've heard from constituents throughout the five years that I've been up around the Hill that had concerns about the size of the county. I've also heard from constituents that think it's just fine," Teuscher said. "So, ultimately this will give the voters the deciding factor of whether or not they think it's the right decision or not."
Asked if he supports cities moving ahead with efforts to break from the county, Teuscher said it will be difficult to pull back on county services such as policing that are duplicated by counties and cities. He was behind the move to eliminate the county's Unified Police Department several years ago, which he said became less important and more costly as various cities expanded their own law enforcement agencies.
Teuscher represents one of the more conservative areas in Salt Lake County, and GOP lawmakers have often feuded with the county's Democratic mayor and county attorney. But the lawmaker said his proposal isn't based on partisan differences in governance, noting that six of the nine members of the County Council are Republicans.
"Honestly, I don't think a lot of the issues that the county deals with is based on a partisan nature," he said. "This really isn't being motivated on a partisan basis. It is more based off of just the sheer size of the county and the growth of that county budget."
The county's budget for the next fiscal year is over $2 billion, which Teuscher argues makes it more difficult for residents to scrutinize how the county is spending tax revenue. If the county did split, he said, the relatively smaller counties would be more transparent and accessible to everyday voters.
But Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson disagrees. A spokeswoman told KSL.com that Wilson believes splitting the county would increase the tax burden on residents, and said the mayor opposes the bill.
The Salt Lake County Council has not yet taken a position.
Leaders of South Jordan, which Teuscher represents, have also not taken a position on his bill, saying the city "was not consulted on this bill and had no input in its creation."
"Since the bill is early in its process, we are still learning about it and its scope," the city added. "We will continue to monitor this bill along with many others that are going through the Legislature right now."
If his bill does pass, Teuscher said the earliest the question could be put to county voters would be in 2026, depending on the buy-in from different cities. HB533 was made public only last week, and Teuscher said it's unlikely the proposal makes it through both chambers of the Legislature before the session ends on March 7.
"My intent is not to try to come out with the late bill and rush it through the process," he said. "I think this needs some time and scrutiny to talk through and work through. So, my intent has always been to ... get the idea out there. I've got a proposal now that everyone can react to, rather than just an idea. ... We'll probably have several committees over the interim before this comes back next session."
