City of Millcreek opponents are fear mongering say incorporation supporters [Examiner]

The following was written for and posted on Examiner.com today.

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“Don’t put our police at risk!” says a billboard just south of Millcreek Township, where residents will go to the polls on Tuesday to decide whether to become a city. While opponents of incorporation argue that becoming a city will put law enforcement in the community at risk, others see incorporation as a way to ensure that more police are patrolling the streets.

Whether Millcreek takes a hit to police protection is an open question and a tactic that has been questioned. If Millcreek incorporates, the township could leave the Salt Lake Valley Law Enforcement Service Area, serviced by the Unified Police Department (“UPD”), though supporters say this is unlikely. If incorporation succeeds, the new city would need to either contract with the UPD for police protection or open its own police department. Servicing residents and businesses in Herriman, Riverton, and unincorporated areas of Salt Lake County, the UPD uses revenues from the entire service area to equalize funding. A large subsidy from Kennecott Copper bolsters the budget, though the subsidy is a fraction of what Millcreek taxes pay into the service district.

Becoming the city doesn’t necessarily mean that police protection would suffer, say supporters.

“At the end of the day, it’s fear mongering,” said Daniel Marriott, who supports incorporation and has been a leader in the effort from the beginning. “There’s not one person on either side that wants to see fewer police services in Millcreek than we do now. If we incorporate, though, we should actually see more police because we’ll have a seat at the table.”

In the battle in Millcreek over incorporation, years of feasibility studies, community meetings, and the door-to-door petition to get incorporation on the ballot have come down to one salient question: who should make governing decisions for Millcreek’s 63,500 residents?

Supporters of incorporation have long argued that becoming a city would allow Millcreek to elect representatives that live in their community. Currently, the bedroom community is represented in Salt Lake County government by District 4 Councilmember Jani Iwamoto, and At-large Councilmember Jim Bradley, as well as Salt Lake County Mayor Peter Corroon. None live in Millcreek, a fact that doesn’t bother incorporation opponent Roger Dudley, a thirty-seven year Millcreek resident.

“I see [incorporation] as a duplication of government. With a county mayor and a city mayor, we will have dual representation” said Dudley. Supporters of incorporation “want better representation, but we already have it when we vote every four years for the County Mayor. That’s enough of a check for me.”

The problem with that, say incorporation supporters, is that facts just don’t support it.

“We already pay for two layers, and one layer is not working–we have no one to represent us,” said Marriott.

By incorporating, tax revenues collected from the area would be removed from the County budget and would remain with Millcreek, leading some to opine that the County opposes Millcreek’s incorporation. The Salt Lake Conference of Mayors endorsed the incorporation in September, with Mayor Corroon casting the lone dissenting vote, fueling speculation that current County leadership opposes incorporation.

Other supporters of incorporation fear that failure on the ballot will lead to adjoining cities annexing choice pieces of Millcreek to add to their tax base. In a recent New York Times article, incorporation leader Anna Clare Shepherd warned that this might be Millcreek’s last chance as a community.

“This is our last chance if we want to stay together and become a city,” Shepherd said.

Whether Millcreek becomes a city or remains part of unincorporated county, many look forward to the issue passing and the community beginning to heal. The fight has been contentious, with both sides accusing the other of dishonesty and duplicity.

“There’s been a lot of work for a lot of years to build Millcreek,” said Rita Lund, who acts as a representative to the Salt Lake County Council for Millcreek and who has worked to help residents identify with Millcreek over the years. “I am looking forward to the election being over so the community can come together and heal. At the end of the day, whether we’re a city or unincorporated county, we’re still going to be neighbors.”