This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Seven town-hall meetings have been scheduled in September to help educate unincorporated Salt Lake County residents about the Community Preservation election they'll be voting on Nov. 3.

Another prong of that education effort involves the publication of a voter guide that will include position statements from residents who favor and oppose the options facing voters:

• In the six townships, that would be whether to become a city or a metro township, then whether to join or not join a municipal services district being set up by the county.

• In the four dozen unincorporated islands, the question is whether to remain unincorporated or to annex into an adjacent city.

Finding people to write these position papers has not been easy, so county officials are making a late effort to round up authors. They are asking people interested in submitting statements to send them to county legislative-team leader Kara Trevino by 5 p.m. on Aug. 31 at ktrevino@slco.org.

Trevino said submissions must include the author's full name (anonymous entries will not be considered) and no more than five people may combine on a statement.

Authors do not have to live in areas they are writing about, nor are there limits on the number of statements they may submit, although none should exceed 500 words. If they do, the County Council has the right to edit them, she added, asking that statements be in Word format.

"Information should be factual and accurate," Trevino emphasized, noting that questions may be sent to community.preservation@slco.org or called in to a Community Preservation hotline, 385-468-7199.

The town-hall meetings will begin Sept. 15 at the Copperton Lions Club, followed by a Sept. 16 meeting at the Emigration Canyon fire station and a Sept. 17 meeting at Skyline High School in Millcreek. A Sept. 21 meeting is scheduled at Kearns High School.

The following week, a session will be held Sept. 24 at Matheson Junior High School in Magna, then two will take place at Eastmont Middle School — Sept. 25 for White City residents and Sept. 28 for people living in the unincorporated islands.

Kimberly Barnett, the associate deputy mayor spearheading election preparations, said financial information about the various options facing unincorporated-area residents should be available for review before these sessions.

Zions Bank's public finance division, which received a county contract to analyze the financial data, is expected to give the county its findings by late August, Barnett said.