The Utah Taxpayers Association continues to oppose UTOPIA and we appreciate your support! Our office has received over a hundred phone calls from Brigham City residents who were misled by UTOPIA and who remain strongly opposed to their business practices. The Utah Taxpayers Association is evaluating other available options to defend Brigham City taxpayers, including legal options. We will continue to keep you informed of new developments and available courses of action.
To follow the media coverage of UTOPIA, please visit the following links.
What a mess UTOPIA has become. The perpetually in development, money-losing deal to bring a fiber-optic network to Utah communities has caused nothing but problems for residents who signed on to the bad deal. It’s embarrassed local public officials who feel locked into a commitment they obviously wouldn’t sign today.
Deseret News: Brigham Officials Chose To Ignore UTOPIA Tactics
In Brigham City, the city council refused to hold a public hearing. The many who showed up recently to vent their anger anyway were given a combined 10 minutes to speak. Then they were dismissed to their homes, and their liens.
Davis County Clipper: UTOPIA- Digital Nirvana or Lost Horizon
The UTOPIA project seems more like the boulevard of broken dreams — the victim of ramped-up expectations, poor financial decisions, lack of oversight, hampering lawsuits, widespread competition and leapfrogging technology.
Box Elder News Journal: UTOPIA Vote Follows Debate
Brigham City Hall was packed last Thursday night for a special city council meeting. The council chambers were full and the crowd spilled out into the upper level, down the stairs and into the main lobby area of city hall. After hearing comments from citizens for and against UTOPIA, each side having 10 minutes, council members made their own comments and voted three to one to give final approval for the $3.66 million bond, which will pay for full build-out of fiber optic infrastructure throughout all of Brigham City.
StandardNet: Brigham City UTOPIA Bond Approved
In front of an overflow crowd spilling into the hallway and down the stairs of the city offices, the Brigham City Council voted 3-1 Thursday to approve a bond finalizing terms for a special assessment area to the UTOPIA fiber optic communications network.
Salt Lake Tribune Editorial: Utopian Nightmare, More Ugly Surprises
Utopia, the ill-starred fiber-optic network in which 10 Utah cities are enmeshed, is hemorrhaging cash. Those cities already are on the hook for millions of dollars in pledges of sales tax revenues to back the system’s debt. Utopia could begin to call on those pledges just as cities face budget crises caused by the recession
Deseret News: Brigham City Approves Bond For Fiber-Optic Cable Network
The Brigham City Council voted Thursday to approve a $4.8 million special assessment bond to finance the construction of a fiber-optic telecommunications network throughout the city. The council chambers were overwhelmed with people, spurred by a Utah Taxpayers Association mailing urging residents to demand the city reverse its planned course of action
Salt Lake Tribune: Brigham City Votes To Issue Bond For Fiber-Optic Network
Ignoring the pleas of dozens of residents Thursday who asked to be let out of their contracts with the Utopia system, the Brigham City Council approved the issuance of a $3.7 million bond to fund the build-out of the fiber-optic system in the city.
Salt Lake Tribune: Nearly Broke, UTOPIA Launches New Fundraising Effort
All Robert Bambrick, a Brigham City resident, had to do to take the first steps toward UTOPIA’s high-tech paradise was pay $3,000 up front — or $25 a month for 20 years, for a total of $6,000 — to hook up his home. Internet, television and phone service would be extra.What he doesn’t remember hearing was that a special service district set up for UTOPIA would place a lien on his home if he chose the monthly payment.
Taxpayers Association Notifies Brigham City Residents of UTOPIA Lien
The Utah Taxpayers Association recently notified Brigham City residents of UTOPIA’s attempts to misled, decieve and trick property owners into signing contracts that put a lien on their homes.
UTOPIA Petition- Now Available
Were you one of the 1,604 Brigham City residents who signed up for UTOPIA’s 20-year lien? Did you have all relevant information before you agreed to place a lien on your home? Were you one of the 4,000 Brigham City residents who did not sign up for UTOPIA’s 20-year lien? Do you know how much UTOPIA will cost you?