H.B. 266

This document includes House Committee Amendments incorporated into the bill on Mon, Feb 14, 2005 at 12:02 PM by ddonat. --> 1

CHANGES TO QUALITY GROWTH
2 COMMISSION
3 2005 GENERAL SESSION
4 STATE OF UTAH
5 Sponsor: Craig W. Buttars
6
7 LONG TITLE
8 General Description:
9 This bill modifies provisions related to the Quality Growth Commission.
10 Highlighted Provisions:
11 This bill:
12 . designates the director of the Department of Natural Resources and the
13 commissioner of the Department of Agriculture and Food as commission members;
14 . modifies the composition of other commission members; and
15 . requires H. [ legislative approval for ] the commission to report to the Legislative
15a Management Committee before making .H certain loans or grants of money from the LeRay
16 McAllister Critical Land Conservation Fund.
17 Monies Appropriated in this Bill:
18 None
19 Other Special Clauses:
20 None
21 Utah Code Sections Affected:
22 AMENDS:
23 11-38-201, as last amended by Chapter 176, Laws of Utah 2002
24 11-38-302, as enacted by Chapter 24, Laws of Utah 1999
25
26 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:

27 Section 1. Section 11-38-201 is amended to read:

28 11-38-201. Quality Growth Commission -- Term of office -- Vacancy --
29 Organization -- Expenses -- Staff.
30 (1) (a) There is created a Quality Growth Commission consisting of:
31 [(a) two persons at the state government level, one of whom shall be from]
32 (i) the director of the Department of Natural Resources;
33 (ii) the commissioner of the Department of Agriculture and Food;
34 [(b)] (iii) six elected officials at the local government level, H. [ two ] three .H of whom
34a may not be
35 residents of a county of the first or second class; and
36 [(c)] (iv) five persons from the profit and nonprofit private sector, H. [ three ] two .H of
36a whom may
37 not be residents of a county of the first or second class and no more than three of whom may be
38 from the same political party and one of whom shall be from the residential construction
39 industry, nominated by the Utah Home Builders Association, and one of whom shall be from
40 the real estate industry, nominated by the Utah Association of Realtors.
41 (b) (i) The director of the Department of Natural Resources and the commissioner of
42 the Department of Agriculture and Food may not assume their positions on the commission
43 until:
44 (A) after May 1, 2005; and
45 (B) the term of the respective predecessor in office, who is a state government level
46 appointee, expires.
47 (ii) The term of a commission member serving on May 1, 2005 as one of the six
48 elected local officials or five private sector appointees may not be shortened because of
49 application of the restriction under Subsections (1)(a)(iii) and (iv) on the number of appointees
50 from counties of the first or second class.
51 (2) (a) Each commission member appointed under Subsection (1)(a)(iii) or (iv) shall be
52 appointed by the governor with the consent of the Senate.
53 (b) The governor shall select three of the six members under Subsection (1)[(b)] (a)(iii)
54 from a list of names provided by the Utah League of Cities and Towns, and shall select the
55 remaining three from a list of names provided by the Utah Association of Counties.
56 (c) Two of the persons appointed under Subsection (1) shall be from the agricultural

57 community from a list of names provided by Utah farm organizations.
58 (3) (a) The term of office of each member is four years, except that the governor shall

59 appoint one of the persons at the state government level, three of the persons at the local
60 government level, and two of the persons under Subsection (1)[(c)] (a)(iv) to an initial two-year
61 term.
62 (b) No member of the commission may serve more than two consecutive four-year
63 terms.
64 (4) Each mid-term vacancy shall be filled for the unexpired term in the same manner as
65 an appointment under Subsection (2).
66 (5) Commission members shall elect a chair from their number and establish rules for
67 the organization and operation of the commission.
68 (6) (a) No member may receive compensation or benefits for the member's service on
69 the commission.
70 (b) (i) A member who is not a government officer or employee may be reimbursed for
71 reasonable expenses incurred in the performance of the member's official duties at the rates
72 established by the Division of Finance under Sections 63A-3-106 and 63A-3-107 .
73 (ii) A member who is a government officer or employee and who does not receive
74 expenses from the member's agency may be reimbursed for reasonable expenses incurred in the
75 performance of the member's official duties at the rates established by the Division of Finance
76 under Sections 63A-3-106 and 63A-3-107 .
77 (c) A member may decline to be reimbursed for reasonable expenses incurred in the
78 performance of the member's official duties.
79 (d) A member is not required to give bond for the performance of official duties.
80 (7) Staff services to the commission:
81 (a) shall be provided by OPB; and
82 (b) may be provided by local entities through the Utah Association of Counties and the
83 Utah League of Cities and Towns, with funds approved by the commission from those
84 identified as available to local entities under Subsection 11-38-203 (1)(a).
85 Section 2. Section 11-38-302 is amended to read:
86 11-38-302. Use of money in fund -- Criteria -- Administration.
87 (1) Subject to Subsection (2), the commission may authorize the use of money in the
88 fund, by grant or loan, to:
89 (a) a local entity;

90 (b) the Department of Natural Resources created under Section 63-34-3 ;
91 (c) the Department of Agriculture and Food created under Section 4-2-1 ; or
92 (d) a charitable organization that qualifies as being tax exempt under Section 501(c)(3)
93 of the Internal Revenue Code.
94 (2) (a) The money in the fund shall be used for preserving or restoring open land and
95 agricultural land.
96 (b) (i) Except as provided in Subsection (2)(b)(ii), money from the fund may not be
97 used to purchase a fee interest in real property in order to preserve open land or agricultural
98 land, but may be used to establish a conservation easement under Title 57, Chapter 18, Land
99 Conservation Easement Act, or to fund similar methods to preserve open land or agricultural
100 land.
101 (ii) Notwithstanding Subsection (2)(b)(i), money from the fund may be used to
102 purchase a fee interest in real property to preserve open land or agricultural land if:
103 (A) the parcel to be purchased is no more than 20 acres in size; and
104 (B) with respect to a parcel purchased in a county in which over 50% of the land area is
105 publicly owned, real property roughly equivalent in size and located within that county is
106 contemporaneously transferred to private ownership from the governmental entity that
107 purchased the fee interest in real property.
108 (iii) Eminent domain may not be used or threatened in connection with any purchase
109 using money from the fund.
110 (iv) A parcel of land larger than 20 acres in size may not be divided into separate
111 parcels smaller than 20 acres each to meet the requirement of Subsection (2)(b)(ii).
112 (c) A county, city, town, department, or organization under Subsection (1) may not
113 receive money from the fund unless it provides matching funds equal to or greater than the
114 amount of money received from the fund.
115 (d) In loaning or granting money from the fund, the commission may impose
116 conditions on the recipient as to how the money is to be spent.
117 (e) The commission shall give priority to requests from the Department of Natural
118 Resources for up to 20% of each annual increase in the amount of money in the fund if the
119 money is used for the protection of wildlife or watershed.
120 (f) The commission may not H. [ , without the Legislature's prior approval, ] .H make a
120a grant or

121 loan from the fund that exceeds $1,000,000 H. until after making a report to the Legislative
121a Management Committee about the grant or loan .H .
121b H. (ii) The Legislative Management Committee may make a recommendation to the
121c commission concerning the intended grant or loan, but the recommendation is not binding on
121d the commission. .H
122 (3) (a) If money from the fund is distributed in the form of a loan, the commission may
123 require interest to be paid and shall establish other terms of each loan, including a repayment
124 schedule.
125 (b) Each payment on a loan from the fund shall be returned to the fund and shall be
126 applied first to interest and then to principal.
127 (4) In determining the amount and type of financial assistance to provide an entity,
128 department, or organization under Subsection (1) and subject to Subsection (2)(f), the
129 commission:
130 (a) if the assistance is in the form of a loan, shall consider the borrower's ability to
131 repay the loan; and
132 (b) shall consider:
133 (i) the nature and amount of open land and agricultural land proposed to be preserved
134 or restored;
135 (ii) the qualities of the open land and agricultural land proposed to be preserved or
136 restored;
137 (iii) the cost effectiveness of the project to preserve or restore open land or agricultural
138 land;
139 (iv) the funds available;
140 (v) the number of actual and potential applications for financial assistance and the
141 amount of money sought by those applications;
142 (vi) the open land preservation plan of the local entity where the project is located and
143 the priority placed on the project by that local entity;
144 (vii) the effects on housing affordability and diversity; and
145 (viii) whether the project protects against the loss of private property ownership.
146 (5) If a county, city, town, department, or organization under Subsection (1) seeks
147 money from the fund for a project whose purpose is to protect critical watershed, the
148 commission shall require that the needs and quality of that project be verified by the state

149 engineer.
150 (6) Each interest in real property purchased with money from the fund shall be held and
151 administered by the state or a local entity.

Legislative Review Note
as of 1-21-05 2:46 PM

Based on a limited legal review, this legislation has not been determined to have a high
probability of being held unconstitutional.

Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel