10-2-106 - Feasibility study -- Feasibility study consultant.
10-2-106. Feasibility study -- Feasibility study consultant.
(1) Within 60 days of receipt of a certified request under Subsection 10-2-105(1)(b)(i),the county legislative body shall engage the feasibility consultant chosen under Subsection (2) toconduct a feasibility study.
(2) The feasibility consultant shall be chosen by a majority vote of a selection committeeconsisting of:
(a) a person designated by the county legislative body;
(b) a person designated by the sponsors of the request for a feasibility study; and
(c) a person designated by the governor.
(3) The county legislative body shall require the feasibility consultant to:
(a) complete the feasibility study and submit the written results to the county legislativebody and the contact sponsor no later than 90 days after the feasibility consultant is engaged toconduct the study;
(b) submit with the full written results of the feasibility study a summary of the results nolonger than one page in length; and
(c) attend the public hearings under Subsection 10-2-108(1) and present the feasibilitystudy results and respond to questions from the public at those hearings.
(4) (a) The feasibility study shall consider:
(i) the population and population density within the area proposed for incorporation andthe surrounding area;
(ii) the history, geography, geology, and topography of and natural boundaries within thearea proposed to be incorporated and the surrounding area;
(iii) whether the proposed boundaries eliminate or create an unincorporated island orpeninsula;
(iv) whether the proposed incorporation will hinder or prevent a future and more logicaland beneficial incorporation or a future logical and beneficial annexation;
(v) the fiscal impact on unincorporated areas, other municipalities, local districts, specialservice districts, and other governmental entities in the county;
(vi) current and five-year projections of demographics and economic base in theproposed city and surrounding area, including household size and income, commercial andindustrial development, and public facilities;
(vii) projected growth in the proposed city and in adjacent areas during the next fiveyears;
(viii) subject to Subsection (4)(c), the present and five-year projections of the cost,including overhead, of governmental services in the proposed city;
(ix) the present and five-year projected revenue for the proposed city;
(x) the projected impact the incorporation will have over the following five years on theamount of taxes that property owners within the proposed city and in the remainingunincorporated county will pay;
(xi) past expansion in terms of population and construction in the proposed city and thesurrounding area;
(xii) the extension of the boundaries of other nearby municipalities during the past 10years, the willingness of those municipalities to annex the area proposed for incorporation, andthe probability that those municipalities would annex territory within the area proposed forincorporation within the next five years except for the incorporation; and
(xiii) whether the legislative body of the county in which the area proposed to beincorporated favors the incorporation proposal.
(b) For purposes of Subsection (4)(a)(ix), the feasibility consultant shall assume advalorem property tax rates on residential property within the proposed city at the same level atwhich they would have been without the incorporation.
(c) For purposes of Subsection (4)(a)(viii):
(i) the feasibility consultant shall assume a level and quality of governmental services tobe provided to the proposed city in the future that fairly and reasonably approximate the level andquality of governmental services being provided to the proposed city at the time of the feasibilitystudy;
(ii) in determining the present cost of a governmental service, the feasibility consultantshall consider:
(A) the amount it would cost the proposed city itself to provide the service afterincorporation;
(B) if the county is currently providing the service to the proposed city, the county's costof providing the service; and
(C) if the county is not currently providing the service to the proposed city, the amountthe proposed city can reasonably expect to pay for the service under a contract for the service;and
(iii) the five-year projected cost of a governmental service shall be based on the amountcalculated under Subsection (4)(c)(ii), taking into account inflation and anticipated growth.
(5) If the results of the feasibility study or revised feasibility study do not meet therequirements of Subsection 10-2-109(3), the feasibility consultant shall, as part of the feasibilitystudy or revised feasibility study and if requested by the sponsors of the request, makerecommendations as to how the boundaries of the proposed city may be altered so that therequirements of Subsection 10-2-109(3) may be met.
(6) (a) For purposes of this Subsection (6), "pending" means that the process toincorporate an unincorporated area has been initiated by the filing of a request for feasibilitystudy under Section 10-2-103 but that, as of the date this Subsection (6) becomes effective, apetition under Section 10-2-109 has not yet been filed.
(b) The amendments to Subsection (4) that become effective upon the effective date ofthis Subsection (6):
(i) apply to each pending proceeding proposing the incorporation of an unincorporatedarea; and
(ii) do not apply to a municipal incorporation proceeding under this part in which apetition under Section 10-2-109 has been filed.
(c) (i) If, in a pending incorporation proceeding, the feasibility consultant has, as of theeffective date of this Subsection (6), already completed the feasibility study, the countylegislative body shall, within 20 days after the effective date of this Subsection (6) and except asprovided in Subsection (6)(c)(iii), engage the feasibility consultant to revise the feasibility studyto take into account the amendments to Subsection (4) that became effective on the effective dateof this Subsection (6).
(ii) Except as provided in Subsection (6)(c)(iii), the county legislative body shall requirethe feasibility consultant to complete the revised feasibility study under Subsection (6)(c)(i)within 20 days after being engaged to do so.
(iii) Notwithstanding Subsections (6)(c)(i) and (ii), a county legislative body is notrequired to engage the feasibility consultant to revise the feasibility study if, within 15 days afterthe effective date of this Subsection (6), the request sponsors file with the county clerk a writtenwithdrawal of the request signed by all the request sponsors.
(d) All provisions of this part that set forth the incorporation process following thecompletion of a feasibility study shall apply with equal force following the completion of arevised feasibility study under this Subsection (6), except that, if a petition under Section10-2-109 has already been filed based on the feasibility study that is revised under thisSubsection (6):
(i) the notice required by Section 10-2-108 for the revised feasibility study shall include astatement informing signers of the petition of their right to withdraw their signatures from thepetition and of the process and deadline for withdrawing a signature from the petition;
(ii) a signer of the petition may withdraw the signer's signature by filing with the countyclerk a written withdrawal within 30 days after the final notice under Subsection 10-2-108(2) hasbeen given with respect to the revised feasibility study; and
(iii) unless withdrawn, a signature on the petition may be used toward fulfilling thesignature requirements under Subsection 10-2-109(2)(a) for a petition based on the revisedfeasibility study.
Amended by Chapter 329, 2007 General Session