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H.B. 101

             1     

INCORPORATION FEASIBILITY STUDY FOR

             2     
MUNICIPALITIES

             3     
1999 GENERAL SESSION

             4     
STATE OF UTAH

             5     
Sponsor: A. Lamont Tyler

             6      AN ACT RELATING TO CITIES AND TOWNS; MODIFYING PROVISIONS RELATING TO
             7      THE INCORPORATION PROCESS; MODIFYING THE ASSUMPTIONS MADE BY THE
             8      FEASIBILITY CONSULTANT; RESTRICTING THE AMOUNT OF COSTS CONSIDERED
             9      BY THE FEASIBILITY CONSULTANT; APPLYING THESE AMENDMENTS TO PENDING
             10      ANNEXATION PROCEEDINGS; MAKING TECHNICAL CHANGES; AND PROVIDING AN
             11      EFFECTIVE DATE.
             12      This act affects sections of Utah Code Annotated 1953 as follows:
             13      AMENDS:
             14          10-2-106, as last amended by Chapter 3, Laws of Utah 1997, Second Special Session
             15      Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
             16          Section 1. Section 10-2-106 is amended to read:
             17           10-2-106. Feasibility study -- Feasibility study consultant.
             18          (1) Within 60 days of receipt of a certified request under Subsection 10-2-105 (1)(b)(i), the
             19      county legislative body shall engage the feasibility consultant chosen under Subsection (2) to
             20      conduct a feasibility study.
             21          (2) The feasibility consultant shall be chosen by a majority vote of a selection committee
             22      consisting of:
             23          (a) a person designated by the county legislative body;
             24          (b) a person designated by the sponsors of the request for a feasibility study; and
             25          (c) a person designated by the governor.
             26          (3) The county legislative body shall require the feasibility consultant to:
             27          (a) complete the feasibility study and submit the written results to the county legislative


             28      body and the contact sponsor no later than 90 days after the feasibility consultant is engaged to
             29      conduct the study;
             30          (b) submit with the full written results of the feasibility study a summary of the results no
             31      longer than one page in length; and
             32          (c) attend the public hearings under Subsection 10-2-108 (1) and present the feasibility
             33      study results and respond to questions from the public at those hearings.
             34          (4) (a) The feasibility study shall consider:
             35          (i) the population and population density within the area proposed for incorporation and
             36      the surrounding area;
             37          (ii) the history, geography, geology, and topography of and natural boundaries within the
             38      area proposed to be incorporated and the surrounding area;
             39          (iii) whether the proposed boundaries eliminate or create an unincorporated island or
             40      peninsula;
             41          (iv) whether the proposed incorporation will hinder or prevent a future and more logical
             42      and beneficial incorporation or a future logical and beneficial annexation;
             43          (v) the fiscal impact on unincorporated areas, other municipalities, special districts, and
             44      other governmental entities in the county;
             45          (vi) current and five-year projections of demographics and economic base in the proposed
             46      city and surrounding area, including household size and income, commercial and industrial
             47      development, and public facilities;
             48          (vii) projected growth in the proposed city and in adjacent areas during the next five years;
             49          (viii) subject to Subsection (4)(c), the present and five-year projections of the cost,
             50      including overhead, of governmental services in the proposed city;
             51          (ix) the present and five-year projected revenue for the proposed city;
             52          (x) the projected impact the incorporation will have over the following five years on the
             53      amount of taxes that property owners within the proposed city and in the remaining unincorporated
             54      county will pay;
             55          (xi) past expansion in terms of population and construction in the proposed city and the
             56      surrounding area;
             57          (xii) the extension of the boundaries of other nearby municipalities during the past ten
             58      years, the willingness of those municipalities to annex the area proposed for incorporation, and the


             59      probability that those municipalities would annex territory within the area proposed for
             60      incorporation within the next five years except for the incorporation; and
             61          (xiii) whether the legislative body of the county in which the area proposed to be
             62      incorporated favors the incorporation proposal.
             63          (b) For purposes of Subsection (4)(a)(ix), the feasibility consultant shall assume ad
             64      valorem property tax rates on residential property within the proposed city at the same level at
             65      which they would have been without the incorporation.
             66          (c) For purposes of Subsection (4)(a)(viii)[,]:
             67          (i) the feasibility consultant shall assume[: (i)] a level and quality of governmental services
             68      to be provided to the proposed city in the future that fairly and reasonably approximate the level
             69      and quality of governmental services being provided to the proposed city at the time of the
             70      feasibility study; [and]
             71          [(ii) that the proposed city will itself provide all governmental services. ]
             72          (ii) the present cost of a governmental service shall be the lesser of:
             73          (A) the amount it would cost the proposed city itself to provide the service after
             74      incorporation; and
             75          (B) the amount it presently costs the entity providing the service to provide the service;
             76      and
             77          (iii) the five-year projected cost of a governmental service shall be based on the amount
             78      calculated under Subsection (4)(c)(ii), taking into account inflation and anticipated growth.
             79          (5) If the results of the feasibility study or revised feasibility study do not meet the
             80      requirements of Subsection 10-2-109 (3), the feasibility consultant shall, as part of the feasibility
             81      study or revised feasibility study and if requested by the sponsors of the request, make
             82      recommendations as to how the boundaries of the proposed city may be altered so that the
             83      requirements of Subsection 10-2-109 (3) may be met.
             84          (6) (a) For purposes of this Subsection (6), "pending" means that the process to incorporate
             85      an unincorporated area has been initiated by the filing of a request for feasibility study under
             86      Section 10-2-103 but that, as of the date this Subsection (6) becomes effective, an election under
             87      Section 10-2-111 has not yet been held for that proposed incorporation.
             88          (b) The amendments to Subsection (4) that become effective upon the effective date of this
             89      Subsection (6) apply to each pending proceeding proposing the incorporation of an unincorporated


             90      area.
             91          (c) (i) If, in a pending incorporation proceeding, the feasibility consultant has, as of the
             92      effective date of this Subsection (6), already completed the feasibility study, the county legislative
             93      body shall, within 20 days after the effective date of this Subsection (6) and except as provided in
             94      Subsection (6)(c)(iii), engage the feasibility consultant to revise the feasibility study to take into
             95      account the amendments to Subsection (4) that became effective on the effective date of this
             96      Subsection (6).
             97          (ii) Except as provided in Subsection (6)(c)(iii), the county legislative body shall require
             98      the feasibility consultant to complete the revised feasibility study under Subsection (6)(c)(i) within
             99      20 days after being engaged to do so.
             100          (iii) Notwithstanding Subsections (6)(c)(i) and (ii), a county legislative body is not
             101      required to engage the feasibility consultant to revise the feasibility study if, within 15 days after
             102      the effective date of this Subsection (6), the request sponsors file with the county clerk a written
             103      withdrawal of the request signed by all the request sponsors.
             104          (d) All provisions of this part that set forth the incorporation process following the
             105      completion of a feasibility study shall apply with equal force following the completion of a revised
             106      feasibility study under this Subsection (6), except that, if a petition under Section 10-2-109 has
             107      already been filed based on the feasibility study that is revised under this Subsection (6):
             108          (i) the notice required by Section 10-2-108 for the revised feasibility study shall include
             109      a statement informing signers of the petition of their right to withdraw their signatures from the
             110      petition and of the process and deadline for withdrawing a signature from the petition;
             111          (ii) a signer of the petition may withdraw the signer's signature by filing with the county
             112      clerk a written withdrawal within 30 days after the final notice under Subsection 10-2-108 (2) has
             113      been given with respect to the revised feasibility study; and
             114          (iii) unless withdrawn, a signature on the petition may be used toward fulfilling the
             115      signature requirements under Subsection 10-2-109 (2)(a) for a petition based on the revised
             116      feasibility study.
             117          Section 2. Effective date.
             118          If approved by two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, this act takes effect
             119      upon approval by the governor, or the day following the constitutional time limit of Utah
             120      Constitution Article VII, Section 8, without the governor's signature, or in the case of a veto, the


             121      date of veto override.




Legislative Review Note
    as of 1-18-99 12:58 PM


A limited legal review of this legislation raises no obvious constitutional or statutory concerns.

Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel


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