As the saying goes, change is the only constant. That’s what Draper City experienced in the past year, particularly in personnel. Mayor Troy Walker addressed those changes and touched on an array of topics including property values and property tax increases, demographics and accomplishments in his annual State of the City speech.

The biggest personnel change happened when David Dobbins departed after working for Draper for 19 years. “When you have a city manager leave a city, it’s a big deal. With our form of government, the city manager executes the duties as CEO and runs the city. If you have a good one, you won’t notice. If you have a bad one, you’re going to notice,”
Walker said. 

The city promoted from within making former City Attorney Mike Barker Draper’s new City Manager. “Mike has been with us 10 years. Mike to me was the natural fit. He’s been in the trenches all along so there was no bringing him up to speed,” Walker said. Bret Millburn also left creating an Assistant City Manager vacancy filled by another promotion from within. “Kellie Challburg has been working with us for 10 years. She’s grown and developed. She was the perfect fit,” Walker said. Barker’s change to City Manager left the City Attorney post open. Traci Gundersen was hired from the private sector as his replacement. Laura Oscarson is retiring and Nicole Smedley will replace her as City Recorder. 

“We’ve had quite a turn in our city government in just this last year, but it’s been smooth and we’re in good shape as far as city leadership goes,” Walker said. 

Change also happened within the city council when Cal Roberts resigned after being elected to Utah’s House of Representatives. Following state statutes, the city notified the public they were accepting applications. Approximately 50 people applied including recently retired councilmember Marsha Vawdrey. “The council picked Marsha because she’s been there before and done it before. There’s no learning curve with Marsha and she has hit the ground running,” the
mayor said. 

Walker wonders if Draper’s part-time mayor may need to change to full-time at some point. “We have a six-member form of government, five councilmembers and one mayor. Our form is the most common in Utah. There are a few cities with a strong mayor, meaning their mayor is full time. It’s a more complex and expensive form of government. Are we ready for one of those at this point? Some days I feel like I’m full time. We have so much going on because we’re getting to be a bigger city,” Walker said. 

Draper demographics show a population of 55,400 with around 30% under age 18 and 8% ages 65-plus. The median income is $103,000. “That’s high. If you were going to define us, you’d probably use the term affluent,” Walker said. 

Fifty percent of residents have a Bachelor’s, graduate or professional degree and the city is home to more than 2,500 licensed business. Forty four percent are dog owners and 21% own cats. “We have three dog parks in Draper. We like dogs, too,” the mayor said. 

The city has a total of 315 employees, 270 full-time and 45 part-time or seasonal. That includes Draper’s Fire and Police department employees. Statistic from 2023 show the fire department had 4,154 calls for service and police had 36,013 calls.

The price of Draper homes continues to increase. “Property values have never gone down in the last 15 years and they’re not going to. Raw ground undeveloped is valued at about $1.2 million an acre. It’s difficult when the ground is that much money to talk about affordable housing. I couldn’t buy the house I live in today. That’s the reality we’re in here in Utah because people want to live here,”
Walker said. 

Data from Redfin shows Draper was second only to Park City in fastest growing home sales prices, though there was a substantial difference between the two. Park City showed a 108% increase with Draper at 37%.

Walker touted the settlement with Geneva Rock, after years of legal disputes between the two entities, as one of the biggest accomplishments. “Over time as we litigated, we worked out an excellent settlement. We preserved the entire face of Steep Mountain,” he said. 

The Gold Star Memorial honoring families who’ve lost a loved one in combat or active duty was installed at Draper Park. “I think it’s Washington, D.C. quality,” Walker said. 

A tax increase, the first since 2007, was deemed necessary because of declining sales tax revenue. Draper still has the second lowest property tax rate in Salt Lake County. The additional $1.6 million annually will go toward public safety which Walker said equates to about $380 per year on his tax bill. “It’s a good value. As we go forward, public safety is not going to get cheaper. We’re committed as a council that our public safety will not be skimped on,” he said. 

Infrastructure is the second most-expensive thing the city does behind public safety. Six million was spent in 2024 to maintain or improve 438 lane miles of roads, 129 miles of storm drain pipe and 85 miles of water lines. 

Other changes included a rate increase for a segment of residents who get their water from the city rather than WaterPro. “It’s not a revenue stream for us, but water rates went up this year. If you’re on Draper water, it’s going to be incrementally increasing due to rebuilding and keeping the system open,” he said. More change came with a proposed school district split affecting those who live on the Alpine side (the city spans two counties). The Alpine School District is the biggest in the state and northern cities have decided to form their own. “This split is…moving along nicely. We’re part of it because we have kids in the area,” Walker said. 

With the devastating Los Angeles fires on everyone’s minds, the mayor said much has been done to mitigate and prevent fires, not only clearing underbrush in wildland urban interface areas and banning fireworks in much of the city, but also by closing a dirt road to vehicle traffic in Corner Canyon. “Every fire we’ve had in our canyon has been firework caused,” he said. 

Walker currently serves as president of Utah’s League of Cities and Towns. “In the past, legislators put the fault for the housing crisis on cities because we didn’t approve density…but we’re on better terms with this legislature. I have three adult kids that still live with me. They’re saving money but there’s nothing to buy. We’re working hand in hand as governments and the state legislature, coming up with density because I think ownership is key, otherwise our kids aren’t going to get ahead,” Walker said. 

He feels Draper has as many apartments for rent as are needed and he’d rather see more townhomes and condominiums for purchase.

Many of the questions the mayor fielded after his address had to do with development of The Point, the state-owned land where the prison once stood which falls within Draper city limits. 

“The whole 690 acres is going to be a 20-25 year buildout, but Phase One is going to be quick with residential units too. The key thing to remember is The Point is a state project. The state never needs Draper’s land use authority and they don’t come looking for it. It’s our future, it’s where the growth is going to be. We’re hammering out a contract for public safety and services we do as a city,”
Walker said. 

Walker finished his speech saying, “It’s a great city. There’s no other place I’d rather live. I’m grateful to be the mayor and a citizen in this community.” λ