2016 Legislature: Bills That Did Not Pass

H.B. 82: Property Taxing Authority for Public Water

The Utah Legislature failed to act on House Bill 82 during the 2016 Legislative session. The bill would have modified the maximum property tax rate that water districts served by the Colorado River Compact to the Upper Basin can charge. Currently, Section 17B-2a-1006 of the Utah Code allows Upper Basin water districts to increase the amount of property taxes they may impose on individuals and businesses up to a maximum of 0.004 per dollar of taxable value of taxable property. H.B. 82 would have continued the current maximum rate through fiscal year 2020, but would have lowered the rate to 0.002 beginning in fiscal year 2021. The fiscal note for the bill estimated that the legislation may have decreased the amount of property taxes Upper Basin districts can impose by about $33.6 million beginning in fiscal year 2021. The fiscal note also observed that districts could make up the decrease through user fees.
To view the bill, click here.

H.B. 257: Water Funding Revisions

House Bill 257, which sought to send some of the State sales tax to the Water Infrastructure Restricted Account, was similar to S.B. 80, which did pass.
To view the bill, click here.

H.B. 283: Public Utility Easement Amendments

The Legislature failed to act on House Bill 283 during the 2016 Session. The bill would have required public utilities to provide notice to affected property owners within 48 hours after the utility disturbs property subject to a public utility easement. The required notice would have described the name, address, and phone number of the utility company. Telephone corporations and electrical corporations with less than 30,000 customers would not have been subject to this requirement.
To view the bill, as substituted, click here.

H.B. 309: Sales and Use Tax Earmark Amendments

Rep. Daniel McCay (R-Riverton) sponsored House Bill 309 seeking to repeal the 1/16th % sales tax that has been dedicated to water funds within the Utah Department of Natural Resources.  This bill was assigned to the House Standing Tax and Revenue Committee, but was never considered by that committee or otherwise acted upon
To view the bill, click here.

H.B. 326: Special and Local District Transparency Amendments

Rep. Justin Fawson (R-North Ogden) sponsored House Bill 326 seeking to, among other things: (1) change the election process for district trustees; (2) place districts under the jurisdiction of cities and/or counties and grant them authority to audit districts; and (3) changing the process for dissolving districts.  This bill was assigned to the House Standing Political Subdivisions Committee, but was never considered by that committee or otherwise acted upon.
To view the bill, click here.

H.B. 432: Governmental Nonprofit Entity Compliance Amendments

Rep. Kim Coleman (R-West Jordan) sponsored House Bill 432 seeking to re-classify private nonprofit organizations that have governmental entities as shareholders or members that together have a "controlling interest" in the organization as "governmental nonprofit corporations."  All such re-classified organizations would then become subject to governmental regulatory laws such as the "Open and Public Meetings Act," the "Government Records Access and Management Act" (GRAMA), and other governmental reporting acts.  This bill was assigned to the House Standing Tax and Revenue Committee, which voted to substitute the bill, but it was never considered thereafter or otherwise acted upon.
To view the bill, as substituted, click here.

H.B. 457: Water Quality Revisions

The Legislature failed to pass House Bill 457 to revise the Utah Water Quality Act to provide that inadvertent releases of water from publicly owned culinary water systems do not constitute a "discharge of a pollutant," which the Act prohibits absent compliance with specific requirements. The bill did provide, however, that inadvertent discharges from a publicly owned culinary water system will qualify as a "discharge of a pollutant" if they are caused by misconduct, a primary cause of pollution, and released in violation of numeric water quality standards.
To view this bill, click here.

H.B. 218: Utah Revised Nonprofit Corporation Act

S.B. 116: Water Law - Nonprofit Corporation Amendments

House Bill 218 and Senate Bill 116 were identical bills that sought to amend two provisions of the Utah Revised Nonprofit Corporation Act. First, the bills sought to exempt shares of stock in water companies from the general rule in the Act that memberships in nonprofit corporations may not be transferred. This proposed change was primarily in response to the Utah Supreme Court's decision in the Southam v. South Despain Ditch Co. case from 2014. Second, the bills sought to clarify that shareholders in water companies have an undivided interest in the property and water rights of the company and that they are entitled to the use of water and right to change the use of water under the Utah water code.
To view HB 218, click here.

To view SB 116, click here.