With incorporation comes responsibility and accountability for municipal services. As a resident of Ogden Valley for over 27 years, my wife and I have enjoyed a good quality of life. With incorporation, can we expect the same quality of life without a tax increase? When a new city is formed, the new city assumes the responsibility for all municipal services. From police and fire departments to public works and parks departments, including a finance department and a city attorney, the responsibility for these services is assumed by the new city.

With responsibility comes accountability. If there is a bad decision regarding the maintenance of the parks or the city streets, someone in those departments will be held accountable. From law enforcement to fire service responsibility, when mistakes are made, the new city departments will be held accountable.

The common form of accountability comes in a lawsuit. From multimillion-dollar litigation to petty lawsuits, the new city will be responsible for the litigation and the costs. What is the position of those pushing the idea of forming a city when it comes to being responsible for inevitable litigation? No city exists mistake free. The cost for attorneys, the cost for legal insurance, the cost to defend even frivolous lawsuits will be ours.

Having observed the reasoning regarding the need to form Ogden Valley into a city is solely based on controlling development. The obvious question is will forming a city give full control over development? The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution supports property rights. It is not just the issue of imminent domain. Former Supreme Court Justice Scalia, a conservative member, has written, “It isn’t just the current value of property, it is the future value and potential of the property.”

The former ranchers and farmers sold their Ogden Valley property knowing full well it was going to be developed in the future. These ranchers and farmers made a profit and didn’t require the buyers to make it a green belt. The United States Constitution supports the property owners. Litigation can slow the development, but it can’t stop it if the development is within the Planning Commission’s approved plan.

The narrow reasoning and scope of this incorporation is a slippery slope to increased taxes for the long list of city responsibility and accountability. Can those of us on fixed incomes afford the risks and obvious tax increases that come with incorporation? Don’t be naïve or get caught up in the emotion of the moment. This is a mistake in the making and should be stopped before the damage is done. It is our valley, but not our property.

Robert Wadman is a professor emeritus in the Criminal Justice Department at Weber State University.