1     
PROPERTY RIGHTS AMENDMENTS

2     
2018 GENERAL SESSION

3     
STATE OF UTAH

4     
Chief Sponsor: Tim Quinn

5     
Senate Sponsor: Daniel Hemmert

6     

7     LONG TITLE
8     General Description:
9          This bill addresses the determination of just compensation in certain eminent domain
10     proceedings.
11     Highlighted Provisions:
12          This bill:
13          ▸     provides that a court, jury, or referee determining just compensation may consider
14     certain evidence;
15          ▸     prohibits consideration of the assessed value on a property tax assessment except in
16     certain circumstances; and
17          ▸     makes technical and conforming changes.
18     Money Appropriated in this Bill:
19          None
20     Other Special Clauses:
21          None
22     Utah Code Sections Affected:
23     AMENDS:
24          78B-6-511, as renumbered and amended by Laws of Utah 2008, Chapter 3
25     

26     Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
27          Section 1. Section 78B-6-511 is amended to read:
28          78B-6-511. Compensation and damages -- How assessed.
29          (1) The court, jury, or referee shall hear any legal evidence offered by any of the parties
30     to the proceedings, and determine and assess:
31          [(1)] (a) (i) the value of the property sought to be condemned and all improvements
32     pertaining to the realty;
33          [(b)] (ii) the value of each and every separate estate or interest in the property; and
34          [(c)] (iii) if it consists of different parcels, the value of each parcel and of each estate or
35     interest in each shall be separately assessed;
36          [(2)] (b) if the property sought to be condemned constitutes only a part of a larger
37     parcel, the damages which will accrue to the portion not sought to be condemned by reason of
38     its severance from the portion sought to be condemned and the construction of the
39     improvement in the manner proposed by the plaintiff;
40          [(3)] (c) if the property, though no part of it is taken, will be damaged by the
41     construction of the proposed improvement, and the amount of the damages;
42          [(4)] (d) separately, how much the portion not sought to be condemned, and each estate
43     or interest in it, will be benefitted, if at all, by the construction of the improvement proposed by
44     the plaintiff[. If] , provided that if the benefit is equal to the damages assessed under Subsection
45     [(2)] (1)(b), the owner of the parcel shall be allowed no compensation except the value of the
46     portion taken; but if the benefit is less than the damages assessed, the former shall be deducted
47     from the latter, and the remainder shall be the only damages allowed in addition to the value of
48     the portion taken;
49          [(5)] (e) if the property sought to be condemned consists of water rights or part of a
50     water delivery system or both, and the taking will cause present or future damage to or
51     impairment of the water delivery system not being taken, including impairment of the system's
52     carrying capacity, an amount to compensate for the damage or impairment; and
53          [(6)] (f) if land on which crops are growing at the time of service of summons is sought
54     to be condemned, the value that those crops would have had after being harvested, taking into
55     account the expenses that would have been incurred cultivating and harvesting the crops[; and].
56          [(7) as far as practicable compensation shall be assessed for each source of damages
57     separately.]
58          (2) In determining the market value of the property before the taking and the market
59     value of the property after the taking to assess damages in partial takings cases as described in
60     Subsection (1)(b), the court, jury, or referee:
61          (a) may consider everything a willing buyer and a willing seller would consider in
62     determining the market value of the property after the taking; and
63          (b) may not consider the assessed value on the property tax assessment for the property
64     unless the court determines that the assessed value on the property tax assessment constitutes
65     an admission by a party opponent.