QUESTION: Do you believe residents in Salt Lake County townships would be better served by incorporating as municipalities? Why or why not?
JIM BRADLEY: A clear process has been established for citizens living in townships to determine their own destiny – whether that be remaining a township, annexing as a group into an existing municipality, or creating a new municipality. I have long supported self-determination of local communities. From my perspective, however, the 30-year old discussion of “wall-to-wall” cities is no longer relevant.
Rather, I believe citizens should have access to quality municipal services at a reasonable price. I have been a strong proponent in the establishment of certain municipal service districts. These districts allow municipalities to cooperatively provide services instead of having to opt for self-provision as the only means of local control. Districts such as the law enforcement, fire service, and waste management are great examples of where working together we can capitalize on economies of scale to provide quality services at a reasonable cost. Today, the Unified Police Department serves 305,000 in the Salt Lake valley, while the Unified Fire Authority provides services to 350,000. These collaborative service models allow local communities to spend dollars where the rubber meets the road while sharing costs for administering the services.
I remain concerned that the proponents of the current Millcreek incorporation effort, if successful, may mistakenly remove Millcreek from the very good service models of fire, police and sanitation services. The citizens of Millcreek will not be well served if this occurs. The quality police, fire, and sanitation services that the citizens of Millcreek enjoy by joining forces with Holladay, Midvale, Riverton, Herriman, Taylorsville, as well as the rest of unincorporated Salt Lake County cannot be duplicated at a reasonable cost if Millcreek incorporation proponents decide to self-provide these services. In the service district models, the Mayors of the participating cities are empowered to exercise local control.