Summit County’s acquisition of the 8,500-acre 910 Cattle Ranch property has seemingly led to a surprise bill regulating how counties purchase land in other jurisdictions.
Deputy County Manager Janna Young on Wednesday told the Summit County Council that House Bill 445, which is sponsored by Salt Lake County Rep. Mark Strong, appears to target Summit County for its recent closure on the open space property.
The 910 Cattle Ranch spans 8,587 acres on the northern side of the county, by Jeremy Ranch, with a small portion of the property crossing into Morgan County.
“This appears to follow an interlocal agreement we’re already working on with Morgan County,” Young said. “It is something we’ve been working very closely with Morgan County on for a while now. We don’t understand why there is legislation about it, but it does have broad impacts to counties throughout the state.”
The bill would require a county to receive express permission from another jurisdiction if it were attempting to purchase land within its boundaries. The counties would also need to draft and sign an interlocal agreement for the purchase to go through, and the purchasing county would be required to pay full property taxes on the land despite its tax-exempt status.
“There are a myriad of reasons why a county might purchase land in another county,” Young said. “For instance, we’ve done that when we’ve needed to have telecommunications towers or what have you, so we’re concerned about our property rights when it comes to this and requiring us to get permission before we can proceed with a purchase because that’s not a requirement of any other public entity.”
Young said she also had logistical questions regarding how the process would work, especially because land purchases in other jurisdictions are often a tool used by counties to protect their watersheds and mitigate wildfires.
“The other piece that’s unclear is what happens if that county does not give that permission or if they demand something in the interlocal agreement that we cannot provide,” Young said.
The Utah Legislature is considering a handful of other bills that the Summit County government is monitoring closely throughout the general session because of concerns over how the potential laws would affect local operations.
Specifically, Young mentioned H.B. 88, which is sponsored by Davis County Rep. Trevor Lee. The bill would require an individual seeking public assistance benefits to prove they have U.S. citizenship or are in the country legally before receiving care.
“This includes if we’re trying to contain a virus that’s being transmitted or if someone’s in crisis and needs mental health care or homeless children who might not have their documentation, so we’re very concerned about that bill and are opposing it,” Young said.
She also pointed out H.B. 184, a piece of legislation jointly sponsored by Davis County Rep. Raymond Ward and Salt Lake County Sen. Lincoln Fillmore. Young claimed the bill did not go through the state’s Land Use Task Force despite relating to land use decisions.
“The Land Use Task Force is a body comprised of members from cities, counties, the Home Builders Association, Property Rights Coalition and developers, and the idea is this group is supposed to be vetting land use bills and coming to a consensus on them so that they have a better passage through the Legislature,” Young explained. “The agreement is that these bills are supposed to go through that body so there aren’t surprises. Unfortunately, this one did not go through that process.”
The bill itself is intended to help meet Gov. Spencer Cox’s goal of building 35,000 starter homes in Utah by the end of 2028 to combat the state’s housing shortage.
It would allow the applicant in a development project to change zoning without going through a planning commission or public hearing process. The government’s legislative body would then have 30 days to approve or deny the request, but it’s not clear whether the legislative body in question refers to a planning commission or the County Council.
“If it’s not done in 30 days, then that zoning becomes the de facto zoning for that project, again, without going through any public processes, with the idea that it would be for these starter homes,” Young said. “The way that they’re defining starter homes is the area mean purchase price, which in Summit County is over a million dollars. That’s not a starter home for us, so obviously we have challenges and concerns about this bill, both on the process side and the policy side.”
The Summit County government is closely watching H.B. 231, sponsored by Fillmore and Utah County Rep. Norman Thurston, because it intends to repeal the restaurant tax that currently funds one of the county’s most prominent grant programs.
“It does allow counties to impose a new sales tax to make up for those lost revenues from the restaurant tax, and those revenues would be similarly restricted,” Young said. “Obviously, though, it changes the structure, so instead of patrons of restaurants paying this, it would apply to everyone paying a sales tax. I don’t believe that’s something we’re interested in.”
Rep. Tiara Auxier, who represents parts of Summit County in addition to Morgan and Rich counties, is sponsoring H.B. 449, a major piece of legislation seeking to eliminate the Truth in Taxation process. However, the move would require a voter-approved amendment to the Utah Constitution in November, even if the bill were to pass.
In place of Truth in Taxation hearings, voters would directly determine whether a government can raise its property tax revenues. The bill would additionally limit the amount of money a government could spend in a year unless voters were in favor of increased spending, and taxpayers could be given refunds if the government brought in more revenue than anticipated, similar to the 1992 Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights Act in Colorado.
“If you exceed your projections, you pay back to the taxpayers the additional (amount) that you received,” Young explained. “Obviously, this would have a huge impact on the county’s funds, so we’re watching that closely.”
Young presents information on proposed legislation and how it would affect Summit County to the County Council every Wednesday during the general session. The general session ends on March 6.