Sept. 2022 | Vol. 16 Iss. 09
FREE
factory seconds blowout!
only $
TRAVERSE RIDGE’S HISTORY AND WHERE IT’S HEADED
20
50 count box!
or 3
DRIVE BY PICK UP AVAILABLE
727 E 9400 S, SANDY UT, 84094
for
50
$
Saturday, Sept. 10th • 9am -2pm
By Mimi Darley Dutton | m.dutton@mycityjournals.com
A
tax rate hike is proposed for residents of the Traverse Ridge Special Service District (TRSSD) after current members of the TRSSD Administrative Control Board, which is tasked with managing TRSSD funds, realized the district is financially insolvent. Established in December 1999, the district has “special” or extra services in comparison to the rest of Draper City. The city provides those extra services and the TRSSD is obligated to pay for them according to the resolution establishing the district. “The TRSSD was created to provide for additional services which are the result of its geographic location. These services are considered ‘in addition to’ the basic services provided by Draper City to other areas of the community. These services include snow removal, street light fixture upgrades, repair and maintenance of roads, street sweeping and disposal services. The revenue for the District comes from a property tax mill levy,” reads the resolution establishing the TRSSD. In 2012, through an unusual string of circumstances, Draper City became landowner to approximately 2,400 acres of SunCrest property within the TRSSD. That portion of SunCrest property had changed owner-
ship among developers and the last owner declared bankruptcy in 2007. Zions Bank was an original lender to the project, and in an effort to protect their multi-million-dollar investment, they bought the property out of bankruptcy. Former City Attorney Doug Ahlstrom explained in a 2014 interview, “Zions made it clear that they’re a bank, not developers, and they were looking to sell it to the next developer who came along. The city met with at least four developers who were trying to decide if they could buy it and each one found out how expensive it was going to be to go forward with the project. Zions Bank sued Draper City for $25 million claiming we’d interrupted development and interfered with their ability to sell it.” Litigation between Zions Bank and Draper City took place between 2010-13. “Each party refined what they understood about the problems in SunCrest…they wanted to be out of litigation, we wanted to be out of litigation,” Ahlstrom said. In an unusual twist, Zions Bank approached Draper City and suggested the city bid to purchase the property. The city council at the time chose to purchase the property for
$5.6 million. “Draper was able to acquire the property at an extremely reduced price,” Ahlstrom said. According to Mayor Troy Walker, the city sold a portion of the land near the city of Highland and used that profit to pay off the bond, traded a portion as a settlement in another lawsuit with a developer in the area, and kept the parcel at the top of Deer Ridge Drive for open space. “We’re out of debt, we own new land and we have new trailheads,” Walker said. By buying the property, Walker said the city eliminated about 5,000 more homes that previous developers had planned to build. “One of the TRSSD residents’ arguments is that their taxes would have been lower if there were more homes up there…but there would have been more homes, it would have been way more crowded and a lot more traffic.” In 2014, the city established a TRSSD Administrative Control Board made up of district residents to work with the city on managing the budget for the required special services. According to Walker, the board started building up a fund balance to do maintenance on Deer Ridge Drive, but some
TRSSD residents filed a lawsuit against the city because they didn’t want to pay for reconstruction of that road. “We set a tax rate that would pay all the bills plus the road maintenance. They thought it was too much. Some residents set a referendum not to increase taxes and they were successful voting the tax increase down. They lived off the fund balance and had no tax for a number of years. Now they’re out of money…they have to raise taxes,” Walker said. Daryl Acumen is the current chairman of the TRSSD Administrative Control Continued page 7
$5 OFF a purchase
15 SAUCES OVER 50 FRESH INGREDIENTS NAAN PIZZA DOUGH MADE FRESH DAILY Craft Your Own Pizza
Indian Food, Pizza, & Wings
Indian Food, Pizza & Curry Wings
2927 S 5600 W West Valley
125 N SR 24 Bicknell, UT
1086 W South Jordan Pkwy South Jordan
801-890-0415
435-425-2500
801-302-0777
w w w. C u r r y P i z z a U t a h . c o m
Local Postal Customer ECRWSS Scan Here: Interactive online edition with more photos.
of $30
Valid Monday-Thursday. Cannot be combined with other offers.
Expires Sept. 30, 2022
Thank You to our Community Sponsors for supporting City Journals
Presort Std U.S. Postage PAID Ogden, UT Permit #190