Residents of unincorporated Ogden Valley, nestled in the mountains east of Ogden City, will decide this election whether to become a city of their own.
If incorporated, Ogden Valley City would cover a large area including Eden, Liberty, Nordic Valley Ski Resort, part of Pineview Reservoir and the unincorporated parts of Huntsville. It would not include the town of Huntsville, or Snowbasin and Powder Mountain ski resorts.
Both sides say they want to preserve the rural feel of the valley, but they disagree over how best to do it.
Proponent Brandi Hammon, who lives in the valley and owns Mountain Luxury Real Estate, said incorporation would give the valley self-determination.
“We've seen how other communities change in form and it's really happening fast,” she said. “So we are pushing hard to make sure that the community is making that direction, versus three people on the other side of the hill that we have no political sway with,” referring to Weber County’s three-member commission.
Ogden Valley residents make up around 3% of Weber County as a whole. Hammon said a local government would function better “because we're fighting just for us – we're not trying to fight for an entire county.”
She also said Ogden Valley residents pay more in taxes to the county than they get in services, and incorporating would allow them to manage their own money.
The state was required to conduct a feasibility study as part of the incorporation process. That study concluded that Ogden Valley brings in more than enough money in taxes to operate as a city – and being a city could cost less than remaining under county control. For example, the study said it would be less expensive for the new city to pay for municipal services like road maintenance and snow removal than it would be if they remained under county control.
But opponents argue incorporating will cost residents more down the line.
“I don't find their numbers accurate,” said outspoken critic Laura Warburton, who doesn’t agree with the feasibility study’s assessments. She lives in unincorporated Huntsville and used to serve on the Ogden Valley Planning Commission.
The study used projected costs and revenue to determine the economic viability of the proposed city. If its projections are incorrect, the city could turn to taxes for increased revenue.
With a small population, under-budgeted items like the aforementioned road maintenance and snow removal would “fall back on us as raised taxes,” said Warburton.
She commissioned a review of the study from Zions Public Finance, part of Zions Bank. They questioned many of the study's estimates, including costs for things like planning and maintaining roads and bridges.
Taxes aside, Warburton said incorporating will detract from the valley’s rural feel.
“People move in, then they want to shut the door. They want to see that this is the most beautiful place in the world, and they want to keep it this way. They want to keep it rural,” she said. But the “problem is — rural is not a city. A city is not rural.”
She believes incorporating will lead to an increase in development, pointing to state code that requires municipalities to adopt a general plan. Ogden Valley City would have a large enough population that its plan would have to include strategies to increase moderate-income housing.
Warburton also argues against incorporating because the proposed boundary is “way too large.”
At just over 63 square miles, Ogden Valley City would be the third largest city in the state by area, but with a population of around 7,500.
In addition to whether Ogden Valley City should incorporate, the ballot asks voters to choose between four types of government with different numbers of council members and different powers for the mayor.
A five-member council would include a mayor as a regular voting member. With a six-member council, the mayor would only vote under certain circumstances, including to break a tie.
With a council-mayor government, the mayor would operate separately from the city council. Ogden Valley could choose a five- or seven-member council-mayor government.
Voters will also decide whether the new city’s council members should be elected by district.
Weber County is required to notify the Lt. Governor’s Office of the results — and if incorporation passes, the name of the new municipality — within 10 days of the canvass of the election.
Macy Lipkin is a Report for America corps member who reports for KUER in northern Utah.
