Bill would turn Salt Lake Co.’s 5 metro townships into cities, give them taxing authority
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — A bill before Utah lawmakers would turn the state’s five metro townships — all of which are located in Salt Lake County — into cities, thereby giving them taxing authority.
House Bill 35, titled “Metro Township Modifications,” unanimously passed the House earlier in the session, and this week it got a favorable recommendation in the Senate Government Operations and Political Subdivisions Committee.
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“Essentially what HB35 does is removes metro townships as a type of municipality and converts the existing townships into cities and towns,” said Rep. Jordan Teuscher (R-South Jordan) on the House floor.
The state’s five metro townships are Kearns, Magna, Copperton, Emigration Canyon, and White City. They came under this unique form of government in 2015, chiefly as a means to stop other cities from annexing areas along their borders.
While metro townships act like a city in most ways, there are two major exceptions. The first is that they do not elect their mayor at large. Instead, city council members elect the mayor.
The second difference is that these townships don’t have taxing authority, and are thus unable to impose a property tax. As an alternative, special service districts come in and provide services like water and trash pickup.
All the metro townships and Salt Lake County are in support of HB35, Teuscher said, noting that Kearns is actually quite large, with a population of 37,000.
“I think it would actually be the 18th largest city in the state,” he said on the House floor. “They deserve the designation to really stand on their own.”
Kearns Mayor Kelly Bush said she supports the bill, emphasizing that it won’t be much more than a “name change.” She noted that getting taxing authority won’t mean a tax increase for residents.
“Whatever the taxing authority is, it’s not about imposing a further tax burden on our taxpayers,” she told ABC4 on Friday. “That’s not what this is about.”
Instead, she said if Kearns becomes a city it would use its new powers to find ways to pay for services without increasing the tax burden and perhaps saving taxpayers money.
“The bottom line is not bringing on a bigger burden,” she said.
Rep. Ashlee Matthews is a Democrat who represents the Kearns area. She spoke in support of the bill on the House floor.
“As a representative of one of the communities that would be impacted by this, I will tell you this has been a long time coming,” she said.
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