S.B. 80 Enrolled

SPECIAL SERVICE DISTRICTS - SERVICE
EXPANSION
2005 GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Mike Dmitrich
House Sponsor: Brad King

LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill amends special service district provisions.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
. adds certain economic development activities using federal mineral lease funds as
one of the services that special service districts are authorized to provide; and
. prohibits counties and municipalities from levying a property tax for a special
service district that provides economic development service.
Monies Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
None
Utah Code Sections Affected:
AMENDS:
17A-2-1304, as last amended by Chapters 131 and 277, Laws of Utah 2003
17A-2-1322, as last amended by Chapters 9 and 195, Laws of Utah 2001

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section 17A-2-1304 is amended to read:
17A-2-1304. Establishing special service districts -- Improvement districts within
special service districts.

(1) (a) A county or a municipality may establish a special service district for the purpose
of providing within the area of the special service district any of the following services or any
combination of them:
(i) water;
(ii) sewerage;
(iii) drainage;
(iv) flood control;
(v) garbage;
(vi) health care;
(vii) transportation;
(viii) recreation;
(ix) fire protection and, if fire protection services are provided, emergency medical or
ambulance or both;
(x) in a county of the first class, providing, operating, and maintaining jail facilities for
the confinement of municipal, state, and other detainees and prisoners;
(xi) street lighting;
(xii) consolidated 911 and emergency dispatch; [and]
(xiii) animal shelter and control[.]; and
(xiv) receiving federal mineral lease funds under Title 59, Chapter 21, Mineral Lease
Funds, and expending those funds on economic development activities that:
(A) promote the creation of jobs; and
(B) do not compete with existing retail establishments within the special service district.
(b) Snow removal services may be provided in special service districts established under
this section to more effectively carry out the purposes of those special service districts.
(c) These services may be provided through facilities or systems acquired or constructed
for that purpose through construction, purchase, lease, contract, gift, or condemnation or any
combination of the above.
(d) Special service districts may contract with a franchised, certificated public utility for

the construction and operation of an electrical service distribution system within the special
service district.
(2) (a) The area within any special service district may include all or any part of the
county or municipality that established it except that:
(i) a special service district may not include the area of any other special service district
established by the same county or municipality that is now providing the same service proposed
to be supplied by the new special service district;
(ii) a special service district established by a county may contain all or a part of any
municipality or of an existing improvement district that provides the same service proposed to be
provided by the special service district, but only with the consent of the governing authority as
provided in a resolution or ordinance adopted by the governing authority; and
(iii) a special service district may not include any area not directly benefitted by the
services provided under this section without the consent of the nonbenefitted landowner.
(b) All parts of a special service district need not be contiguous.
(3) (a) As provided in Section 17A-2-1315 , the governing authority of any special service
district created under this part may create one or more improvement districts within the
boundaries of the special service district by following the procedures in, and meeting the
requirements of, Chapter 3, Part 2, County Improvement District Act, or Part 3, Utah Municipal
Improvement District Act.
(b) The intent to create an improvement district need not be present at the time a special
service district is organized.
(c) Any improvement district created within the boundaries of a special service district
may only be organized to undertake projects or improvements for which the special service
district creating that improvement district was organized.
(d) The special service district shall meet all procedural requirements for creating an
improvement district at the time the improvement district is created, as provided in Section
17A-2-1315 and in Chapter 3, Part 2, County Improvement District Act, or Part 3, Utah
Municipal Improvement District Act.

(e) In determining whether or not a project or improvement undertaken by an
improvement district is within the scope of the purposes for which the special service district
creating that improvement district was organized, any project or improvement reasonably related
to the purposes for which the special service district creating that improvement district was
organized is considered to be within the scope of those purposes.
(4) The creation of a special service district to provide jail services as provided in
Subsection (1)(a)(x) does not affect the ability of a municipality under Section 10-8-58 to
provide, operate, and maintain facilities for the temporary incarceration, not to exceed 72 hours,
of persons charged with the violation of a municipal ordinance.
Section 2. Section 17A-2-1322 is amended to read:
17A-2-1322. Tax levy and bonds -- Approval by majority of electors voting in
election -- Procedure for election.
(1) [The] (a) Except as provided in Subsection (1)(b), the governing authority of a
county or municipality which has established a service district may levy a tax on all taxable
property within the service district in addition to all other taxes on such property levied or
imposed by the county or municipality or by any other public corporation, district, or political
subdivision in which the service district is located, and may also issue bonds payable in whole or
in part from these taxes. No tax may be levied and no bonds or guaranteed bonds shall be issued,
however, unless authorized, except as otherwise provided in Section 17A-2-1325 , by a majority
of the qualified electors of the service district voting at an election for that purpose held as
provided in this section.
(b) The governing authority of a county or municipality may not levy a property tax
under Subsection (1)(a) if the services provided by the special service district established by the
county or municipality include economic development, as provided in Subsection
17A-2-1304 (1)(a)(xiv).
(2) The proposition to levy the tax or to issue the bonds shall be submitted to the
qualified electors of the service district at an election called and held and for which notice is
given in the same manner as is provided in Title 11, Chapter 14, Utah Municipal Bond Act, for

the holding of bond elections. The proposition shall state the purpose or purposes for which the
taxes are to be levied or the bonds are to be issued. In addition, a proposition for the issuance of
bonds shall state the maximum amount of bonds to be issued, the maximum number of years
from their respective dates for which the bonds may run, and, if the bonds are to be payable in
whole or in part from taxes, that fact and that taxes may be levied on all taxable property in the
service district to pay the principal of and interest on the bonds. The purpose or purposes may be
stated in general terms and need not specify the particular projects or services for which the taxes
are to be levied or the bonds are to be issued nor the specific amount of the proceeds of the taxes
or of the bonds to be expended for each project or service. If bonds are to be payable in part
from tax proceeds and in part from the operating revenues of the service district or from any
combination of them, the proposition shall so indicate but need not specify how the bonds are to
be divided as to source of payment. If the bonds are to be issued as guaranteed bonds, the
proposition shall also clearly state that fact together with the name or names of the guarantors. A
proposition for the levy of taxes and for the issuance of bonds may be combined as a single
proposition.
(3) (a) A tax levied under this section shall be the sole source of funding for a special
service district that provides jail service as provided in Subsection 17A-2-1304 (1)(a)(x).
(b) Each tax levied under this section for a special service district that provides jail
service as provided in Subsection 17A-2-1304 (1)(a)(x) shall be considered to be levied by the
county for purposes of the county's tax limitation under Section 59-2-908 .