Bluff Residents Will Vote on Whether to Incorporate as a Town

Citizens in Bluff, Utah, are set to decide in November whether to incorporate as a town. More than half of the community’s 265 residents signed a petition earlier this year supporting the idea of exploring incorporation. Per state law, that petition was submitted to the Lieutenant Governor’s Office, which then launched a financial feasibility study. The recently completed study by Bonneville Research concludes that incorporation is feasible, and projects that over the first five years, revenues and expenditures would be at “break-even” levels if current services stay about the same. One co-chair of the sponsorship committee, Brant Murray, tells KSJD that incorporation would have multiple pluses, including giving the town a seat at the table during county discussions and having decisions about Bluff be made by a town council. It would also provide an opportunity for grants and other revenue sources not currently available to the community. The Lieutenant Governor’s Office will host a public hearing Tuesday, August 8, at 7 p.m. in the Bluff Community Center for a discussion about the feasibility study and incorporation. Murray hopes the November 7th vote will be a yes. He says, “We want to keep Bluff Bluff, and we think the way to do that is to have a local board overseeing what happens.”