A Public Hearing has been set for Tuesday February 24, 2004 by the City Council at 7:00 to recieve public input with respect to the proposed pledge of the City's sales tax revenue.  (the entire notice is posted below)

Centerville is part of an innovative and exciting new project in the State of Utah, UTOPIA (Utah Telecommunication Open Infrastructure Agency). UTOPIA’s mission is to provide an network of fiber optics to every home and business in it’s organization.

Why fiber optics? In the laboratory the capacity of fiber optics to transmit data has not yet been discovered. This means that the ability of fiber to transmit data may be unlimited. Other current infrastructure does not have the capacity of fiber including copper, cable and even wireless.

Why Government? A number of Utah cities have seen the need for high speed data transmission abilities in their communities. It has not been widely available in the State, because the infrastricture is not in place. These communities realized that installing infrastructure is something government has done for a long time. Over the last century, government has built roads, water systems, sewer systems, etc. benefitting the community and add to its livability and economy. The new infrastructure is the information superhighway. Although private industry has tried to install this infrastructure, they have not been able to build it, for their own use, in an economically feasible manner.

What is Centerville City’s role? Centerville joined UTOPIA in July 2002, as one of the founding members. The City made a $40,000 contribution for the feasibilty study of this project. This $40,000 is expected to be reimbursed to the City when the project is built. The City has no other financial of legal obligation. UTOPIA is a separate entity, created by interlocal agreement. We have a member of the Board of UTOPIA,  David Gill.

Click here for a PDF copy of a pamphlet from UTOPIA (436 kb)

This is a copy of the newsletter insert, describing UTOPIA in Centerville:

Click here for copy of complete article

For additonal information visit their website:       

click here for PDF copy of feasibilty study (937kb)  

Related Web Sites

Utahns For Telecom Choices

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING TO

CONSIDER PLEDGING EXCISE TAX REVENUES

PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that pursuant to the Utah Municipal Bond Act, Title 11, Chapter 14, Utah Code Annotated 1953, as amended, the City Council (the "Council") of CENTERVILLE, Utah (the "City"), has called a public hearing to receive input from the public with respect to a proposed pledge of certain of the City’s Sales and Use Tax revenues (the "Sales and Use Tax Revenues").

TIME, PLACE AND LOCATION OF PUBLIC HEARING

The Council shall hold a public hearing on Tuesday, February 24, at the hour of 7:00 p.m. The location of the public hearing is at City Hall, 250 N. Main, Centerville, UT. The purpose of the hearing is to receive input from the public with respect to the Council’s proposed pledge of the City’s Sales and Use Tax Revenues. All members of the public are invited to attend and participate.

PURPOSE FOR PLEDGE OF EXCISE TAX REVENUES

Pursuant to an Indenture of Trust (the "Indenture"), the Utah Telecommunication Open Infrastructure Agency ("UTOPIA"), an interlocal cooperative of which the City is a member pursuant to an Interlocal Cooperative Agreement, expects to issue a series or multiple series of bonds or other forms of indebtedness (the "Bonds") to finance, among other things, the acquisition, construction, equipping and operation of a network providing high-speed broadband voice, video and data access to residents of the members of UTOPIA on a wholesale basis (the "Network"). The Council will consider pledging the City’s Sales and Use Tax Revenues pursuant to a Pledge Agreement between the City and UTOPIA for the purpose of securing, in part, either (i) the replenishment of a debt service reserve fund established under the Indenture to the extent that said debt service reserve fund is drawn upon or (ii) the City’s payment obligation to UTOPIA (which shall equal the City’s proportionate share of the debt service obligation with respect to the Bonds) in consideration for the City’s interest in the Network as a member of UTOPIA.

EXCISE TAXES PROPOSED TO BE PLEDGED

The Council will consider pledging all or a portion of the local sales and use tax revenues received by the City pursuant to Title 59, Chapter 12, Part 2, Utah Code Annotated 1953, as amended. The maximum amount of the Sales and Use Taxes that the City may be required to pay under the Pledge Agreement in any one year is $334,126. The pledge of the City is expected to remain in effect for a maximum of 20 years, from the date of issuance of the Bonds.

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a period of thirty (30) days from and after the last date of the publication of this notice is provided during which registered voters within the City may sign a written petition requesting an election to authorize the pledge of the City’s Sales and Use Tax Revenues under the Pledge Agreement. If written petitions which have been signed by at least 20% of the registered voters of the City are filed with the City during said 30-day period, the Council shall be required to hold an election to obtain voter authorization prior to the City’s pledge of its Sales and Use Tax Revenues pursuant to the Pledge Agreement. If fewer than 20% of the registered voters of the City file a written petition during said 30-day period, the Council may proceed to pledge its Sales Tax Revenues without an election.

Dated February 5, 2004.