House committee backs bill to let Weber County automatically annex small unincorporated 'islands'

A House committee on Thursday advanced a bill that would let municipalities automatically annex small pockets of unincorporated county land that are entirely surrounded by a city.

The House Political Subdivisions Committee adopted the first substitute to House Bill 457 and voted to recommend the substitute favorably, recording the committee vote as 7 in favor and 2 opposed.

Representative Dunnigan, sponsor of the bill, said the measure is modeled on earlier legislation and is narrowly drawn to address service and tax-base mismatches created by scattered “islands” of county land surrounded by city boundaries. The bill limits automatic annexations to inner islands of 55 acres or less and applies this year only to Weber County, Dunnigan told the committee.

A Weber County commissioner who testified said the county has 31 such islands, ranging from about 0.6 acres to several hundred acres, and that the measure would let cities assume local control of zoning and services where appropriate. “Weber County actually has 31 of these islands,” the commissioner said, adding the bill would target only islands of 55 acres or less.

Jared Tingey of the League of Cities and Towns told the committee the League worked with Representative Dunnigan and Weber County on the language and supports moving it forward while recognizing Utah County has different infrastructure challenges. “We support the language moving forward,” Tingey said.

The bill includes a process for counties to opt out of particular parcels: a county governing body can identify parcels it does not want annexed by May 2027 so that any automatic annexation would occur by July 2027. The substitute also responds to municipal concerns by allowing multiple plats to be recorded together, a change sponsors said would reduce surveying costs (sponsors said some plat recordings otherwise cost about $3,000 per island).

Opponents on the committee raised notice and tax-shift concerns for residents who may suddenly find themselves subject to municipal taxes; sponsors and county witnesses said any annexation would follow standard public-notice and public-hearing processes and that the county could retain parcels it did not want annexed.

The committee adopted the first substitute unanimously when it was called and later voted to favorably recommend HB457 as substituted by a vote recorded in committee as 7–2, with Representatives Kohler and Hansen opposed. The bill will now proceed to the House floor for further consideration.

The sponsor said the measure is designed to be limited in scope and to be usable as a framework by other eligible second-class counties in the future.