Salt Lake Valley suburbs could secede from Salt Lake County and form their own county under a new proposal in front of the Utah Legislature.
HB533, sponsored by Rep. Jordan Teuscher, R-South Jordan, would allow Salt Lake County municipalities with a combined population of at least 330,000 to pursue a special election for the creation of a new county. The election could be triggered by resolutions from the municipalities’ city councils themselves, or through a petition signed by at least a quarter of registered voters in the potential new county, according to the bill.
Teuscher did not respond to a request for comment.
Last year, Teuscher sponsored HB330, which created a path for municipalities to absorb Salt Lake County’s remaining unincorporated areas by 2027.
Any potential new county would have to meet certain requirements, like not splitting up an existing city and not jacking up the cost for services in Salt Lake County, according to the bill.
The formation of a new county, according to the bill, must also not make it “economically or practically unfeasible” for Salt Lake County to continue to function. A new county would need to be capable of providing fundamental services.
Democratic Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson said spitting up the county without raising costs in both areas wouldn’t be possible.
“It would be a tax increase for all residents, because doing something that extreme would not be simple, and it would create a second layer of infrastructure,” Wilson said. “... Now, years down the road, perhaps you could argue [for it], fair enough, but I don’t think you can make the argument that there would be neutral costs, because ... the new county would need to build incredibly costly infrastructure that are currently county assets.”
Dividing the county would also change how existing laws would affect both areas. Salt Lake County — with its population of over a million residents — is the only “county of the first class” in the state, and there have been policies implemented that target first-class counties specifically, Wilson added.
“The bottom line is we would end up creating more political division, and at a time residents are calling for us to get along and work together,” Wilson said, adding that the legislation itself already feels partisan. “I think Salt Lake County is a county that does that. We work across party lines. I mean, every major initiative at Salt Lake County has bipartisan support. I’ve worked towards that as mayor.”
Any school districts or election districts divided up in the split would be reorganized by the new county’s legislative body and the Salt Lake County Council, according to the bill. Salt Lake County would still be able to levy taxes on parts of the new county to repay any existing bond obligations.
If a petition for a new county gets enough signatures or enough councils pass resolutions, the Salt Lake County Council would conduct a “feasibility study” for the potential split.
That feasibility study would have to include population projections for both the new county and remaining portions of Salt Lake County, along with cost projections for services in both counties and an analysis of the division of assets between the two jurisdictions, according to the bill.
The study would also contain a recommendation on whether the split would be financially possible, and what conditions would be needed for an effective breakup, the bill states. Cities could still pursue a split with Salt Lake County despite a negative recommendation. After the feasibility study, the proposed split would go to a special election.
If passed, the bill will take effect May 7. The legislation has not yet had a committee hearing.
