The last time a state's boundary changed was during the Civil War when citizens of what is now West Virginia broke away from Virginia. The next boundary change could make a bump in Utah's western border.

People from the dual community of Wendover, Utah, and West Wendover, Nevada, voted Nov. 5 in favor of unifying the towns by adjusting the Utah border eastward, transferring 10,000 square acres from Utah to Nevada and placing both towns in Nevada.

Wendover Mayor Steve Perry said the referendum was only an advisory vote to signal what people from each town wanted. On the Nevada side, citizens voted 248-191 in favor of consolidation. In Utah, the citizens approved the move by a 110-61 vote.

"If they would have voted no on either side, it would have ended discussion," Perry said. "With the 2-1 vote, it's obviously a win-win."

Perry said most residents support the boundary change because Nevada has one of the lightest tax burdens in the nation, but citizens on both sides end up paying the Utah state income tax.

"Even if you live in Utah and work in Nevada, you pay income tax," Perry said. "If you live in Nevada and work in Utah, you pay income tax. They've got us going both ways."

The only obstacles to annexation are Nevada's two U.S. senators, Republican John Ensign and Democrat Harry Reid, and West Wendover casino owners.

The West Wendover gaming industry thrives off Utah residents coming across the border where gambling is legal. The owner of the Stateline and Silver Smith casinos publicly opposes annexation because moving the boundary eastward and closer to Salt Lake City would undercut his business when new casinos are built closer to the customer base.

In August, Reid announced his opposition to unifying the towns to protect the millions of dollars invested by casino owners.

His announcement stopped Senate discussion of a bill authorizing the change. That bill, passed June 11, was co-sponsored by Rep. Jim Hansen (R-UT) and Rep. Jim Gibbons (R-NV). Ensign also announced his opposition. According to Reid's staff, the bill will not come up for a vote this year and will die at the close of the congressional session.

Supporters of annexation said they were surprised and disappointed at Reid's actions.

"He told Congressman Hansen he would get this through if we did our work," Perry said.

Others were not surprised because of the amount of campaign contributions the two senators receive from the gaming industry. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Ensign's committee has received nearly $560,000 from the casino and gaming industry since 1997.

Reid has collected almost $360,000 during the same period. The estimates include money contributed from casino-sponsored political action committees and individuals employed in the gaming industry.

Tessa Hafen, a spokesperson for Sen. Reid, said it should not be a surprise that Nevada's biggest industry is Reid's biggest contributor.

"Why wouldn't he want to protect the number one industry in the state?" Hafen said.

Even if the Senate revives the bill and passes it this year, the boundary change would have to be approved by both city governments, both governors, and both state legislatures.

A Nevada law requires the action to be passed by two separate sessions of the state legislature. Because the Nevada legislature meets every two years, the earliest possible annexation would take place at the beginning of 2006.

Despite these obstacles, city leaders from both towns want to push forward and hope the new Republican-controlled Senate will be more favorable to them next year.

Perry said the idea began over a year ago at Rep. Hansen's suggestion.

Hansen said consolidating the towns would resolve Wendover's city budget woes by cutting costs of municipal services such as the fire department, law enforcement and education.

Besides helping the city budget, Perry said one of the main benefits is having a single school system for the area, which has a population of 8,500 people.

The two towns operated a single school system until 1996 when they decided to split. The principal of Wendover High School said despite having less funding than Nevada schools, their program on the Utah side has continued to offer quality education.

"I think we are getting a very good return on our investment here in Utah because of the dedicated people," said Dr. Stephen Lawrence. "We are very, very creative."

Although Nevada schools have more support personnel and funding, high school students on the Utah side are receiving as good an education through college-level courses, Lawrence said.

Lawrence said he believes the Wendover city council is more interested in improving their business structure.

Several Wendover city council members own businesses, and Perry owns two motels on the Utah side. If the annexation takes place, Perry could add gambling to those motels.

"I just want to have the chance to compete on a fair basis," Perry said. "I'm not doing it for Steve Perry. This is for everybody, or else they wouldn't have voted the way they did."
Copyright Brigham Young University 18 Nov 2002