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Residents of the Traverse Ridge/Suncrest community in Draper overwhelmingly voted last week to pass a referendum repealing the budget and tax levy previously set for their special service district.

The Traverse Ridge Special Service District (TRSSD) handles snow removal, street maintenance and street light repairs for the neighborhood in the hills above the city. Residents have complained for years that the special service district's taxes have been too high for the services covered.

In preparation for the possible passing of the referendum, the Draper City Council on Oct. 21 approved a temporary five-person advisory board for the special service district.

The advisory board has asked that the City Council develop a new budget for the special-service district.

"The advisory committee has recommended that the City Council, acting as the TRSSD Board, adopt a new budget utilizing the TRSSD fund reserves in order to pay for snow removal, street maintenance and street light repairs for the remainder of the fiscal year and to have Draper City provide these services," according to a statement from the city.

Councilman Jeff Stenquist says he doesn't think anyone was surprised with the result of the Nov. 4 election and hopes there won't be any interruption of services between now and a public hearing on the district's new budget.

Bill Colbert is the only council member who lives in Traverse Ridge. He said many of the residents don't fully understand how the special service district was created, but thinks the residents are getting a bargain from the city.

"[But] there will be consequences of the vote," Colbert said.

Some road repairs won't get done this year, and the district will hold off on a plan to acquire another snow plow, he said. But having the new board closer to the community will help greatly.

"There's always been kind of an element of distrust between our [district] residents and the city, somehow … now they'll have a board where their only concern will be how to meet the service needs of that district," Colbert said.

The City Council will hold a public hearing Nov. 18 to consider voting on a new budget for the district.