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Sam Penrod ReportingVoters in Cottonwood Heights are at the polls today trying to decide if the community should incorporate as a city. This vote is drawing a lot of people out--primarily because one way or the other, it will impact the taxes residents in Cottonwood Heights pay.
Cottonwood Heights is one of the last unincorporated areas on the east side of the Salt Lake County. Proponents of creating a city believe that it will prevent nearby cities from annexing businesses that bring in a lot of tax dollars, which could keep residents' taxes down. It would also give residents more say in how their community is governed.
However, opponents of incorporating believe that it will only create more bureaucracy, especially since Cottonwood Heights would contract with the county for emergency services, and in the end it could actually force taxes to go up.
Gordon Nicholl, Supports Annexation: "If we lose those large commercial tax bases, the residents of unincorporated Salt Lake County in the Cottonwood Heights area are going to be left holding the bag for taxes; we don't want to see that happen."
John Jenks, Opposes Annexation: “The county, in my opinion, in the last couple of years, especially with Workman being elected, has done a really good job and I've seen improved community services."
If approved, the new city of Cottonwood Heights would encompass a large area; it would become the seventh largest city along the Wasatch Front.
It's the large retail businesses on the boundaries near Fort Union that Midvale and Sandy are said to be eyeing for annexation.
The polls are open until eight tonight, and we will have the latest on the results, tonight on Eyewitness News at Ten.
