That's the message Salt Lake County's unincorporated suburbs will send to the Legislature this year as lawmakers weigh whether to keep the communities' borders intact.

The decision could affect tens of thousands of county residents living in unincorporated Magna, Kearns, Millcreek, Copperton, White City and Emigration Canyon - populations that, if combined, would rival Salt Lake City's.

"If the Legislature doesn't listen to us, it would be a shame," Copperton resident Gary Curtis said, "because we are totally satisfied with what we have."

But the county's six townships face an uncertain future. While state law now protects them from the annexation plans of land- and tax-hungry cities, the law will expire in 2010.

So townships are asking themselves this: Do we remain townships (if the Legislature allows it, of course)? Do we annex into adjoining cities? Do we create our own cities?

Salt Lake County released a survey Monday showing that six out of 10 township property owners don't want a change. They want to stick with their townships.

Copperton spoke loudest with 97.6 percent of its residents urging the Legislature to keep their township intact. Then came Emigration Canyon (77.5 percent), Magna (58.8 percent) and White City (55.6 percent).

"Clearly, the residents have spoken," County Councilman and Magna resident Michael Jensen said.

The only community that wants to opt out of the county is Big Cottonwood Canyon, in which 36.2 percent of property owners favor incorporation. But don't redraw the map yet, warned Janice Houston, a senior policy analyst for the survey-conducting University of Utah's Center for Public Policy and Administration.

Big Cottonwood's numbers were skewed by one of the canyon's largest landholders, Solitude Ski Resort, which has lobbied to become a city. Without the resort's responses, a 31.8 percent plurality of property owners want to remain part of the unincorporated county.

House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy, pledged to listen to the townships as their communities' fates are raised before the Legislature. "Our general philosophy has almost always been: Let them do what they want."

It would be tough to do otherwise, said Rep. Lynn Hemingway, D-Millcreek.

"With results that strong," he added, "we really have some ammunition to go to the Legislature and say, 'We want this.' "

The survey results run contrary to the notion of wall-to-wall cities, debated in recent years as the eventual path for Salt Lake Valley development. Instead, residents seem to favor their unincorporated enclaves, where the county picks up the garbage, plows the roads and provides basic municipal services.

County Mayor Peter Corroon said the pro-township response suggests a stronger form of township governance may be warranted.

"If residents are happy with the services provided," he said, "then let's give them some stronger say in the township."

The county already affords townships broad discretion in planning decisions. And - as championed by County Councilman Mark Crockett - it hired two people to serve as liaisons between the county and those communities.

A full-time township manager might make sense now, Corroon said.

"It is time to take the next step," Jensen added, "which is to give them more autonomy."

jstettler@sltrib.com