Rep. Norm Thurston — Voting Record

Bill

Number

S.B. 289 (2025GS)

Sponsor

Sen. Harper, Wayne A.

Final action

Governor Signed 3/27/2025

Outcome

Became law — signed by Gov. Spencer J. Cox

Summary

What it does

• This bill:
• defines terms;
• requires a county auditor to:
• submit annual project area and tax increment data to the Governor's Office of Economic Opportunity; and
• notify taxing entities of the end of a project area funds collection period and the calculation of new growth attributed to the project area;
• clarifies that an agency that has funds withheld due to non-compliance with reporting requirements will receive those withheld funds once the agency complies with reporting requirements; and
• makes technical changes.

Every vote on this bill

Bill text

46
17C-1-603
17C-1-606
17C-1-607
0
Community Development Amendments
2025 GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Wayne A. Harper
House Sponsor: Trevor Lee
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill addresses community reinvestment agencies.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
defines terms;
requires a county auditor to:
submit annual project area and tax increment data to the Governor's Office of 
Economic Opportunity; and
notify taxing entities of the end of a project area funds collection period and the 
calculation of new growth attributed to the project area;
clarifies that an agency that has funds withheld due to non-compliance with reporting 
requirements will receive those withheld funds once the agency complies with reporting 
requirements; and
makes technical changes.
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
None
Utah Code Sections Affected:
AMENDS:
17C-1-603
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2024, Chapter 316
17C-1-606
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2016, Chapter 350
17C-1-607
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2016, Chapter 350
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1, Section 
17C-1-603
 is amended to read:
17C-1-603
. Reporting requirements -- Governor's Office of Economic 
Opportunity to maintain a database.
(1)
As used in this section:
(a)
"Database" means the collection of electronic data described in Subsection (2)(a).
(b)
"Office" means the Governor's Office of Economic Opportunity.
(c)
"Office website" means a public website maintained by the office.
(2)
The office shall:
(a)
create and maintain electronic data to track information for each agency located 
within the state; and
(b)
make the database publicly accessible from the office website.
(3)
(a)
The office may:
(i)
contract with a third party to create and maintain the database; and
(ii)
charge a fee for a county, city, or agency to provide information to the database.
(b)
The office shall make rules, in accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah 
Administrative Rulemaking Act, to establish a fee schedule for the fee described in 
Subsection (3)(a)(ii).
(4)
On or before June 30 of each year, an agency shall, for each active project area for 
which the project area funds collection period has not expired, submit to the office for 
inclusion in the database the following information:
(a)
an assessment of the change in marginal value, including:
(i)
the base year;
(ii)
the base taxable value;
(iii)
the prior year's assessed value;
(iv)
(ii)
the estimated current assessed value;
(v)
(iii)
the percentage change in marginal value; and
(vi)
(iv)
a narrative description of the relative growth in assessed value;
(b)
the amount of project area funds the agency received and the amount of project area 
funds the agency spent for each year of the project area funds collection period, 
broken down by the applicable budget or funds analysis category described in 
Subsection (4)(d), including:
(i)
a comparison of the actual project area funds received and spent for each year to 
the amount of project area funds forecasted for each year when the project area 
was created, if available;
(ii)
(A)
the agency's historical receipts and expenditures of project area funds, 
including the tax year for which the agency first received project area funds 
from the project area; or
(B)
if the agency has not yet received project area funds from the project area, the 
year in which the agency expects each project area funds collection period to 
begin;
(iii)
a list of each taxing entity that levies or imposes a tax within the project area and 
a description of the benefits that each taxing entity receives from the project area; 
and
(iv)
the amount paid to other taxing entities under Section 
17C-1-410
, if applicable;
(c)
a description of current and anticipated project area development, including:
(i)
a narrative of any significant project area development, including infrastructure 
development, site development, participation agreements, or vertical construction; 
and
(ii)
other details of development within the project area, including:
(A)
the total developed acreage;
(B)
the total undeveloped acreage;
(C)
the percentage of residential development; and
(D)
the total number of housing units authorized, if applicable;
(d)
the project area budget, if applicable, or other project area funds analyses, with 
receipts and expenditures categorized by the type of receipt and expenditure related 
to the development performed or to be performed under the project area plan, 
including:
(i)
each project area funds collection period, including:
(A)
the start and end date of the project area funds collection period; and
(B)
the number of years remaining in each project area funds collection period;
(ii)
the amount of project area funds the agency is authorized to receive from the 
project area cumulatively and from each taxing entity, including:
(A)
the total dollar amount; and
(B)
the percentage of the total amount of project area funds generated within the 
project area;
(iii)
the remaining amount of project area funds the agency is authorized to receive 
from the project area cumulatively and from each taxing entity; and
(iv)
the amount of project area funds the agency is authorized to use to pay for the 
agency's administrative costs, as described in Subsection 
17C-1-409
(1), including:
(A)
the total dollar amount; and
(B)
the percentage of the total amount of all project area funds;
(e)
the estimated amount of project area funds that the agency is authorized to receive 
from the project area for the current calendar year;
(f)
the estimated amount of project area funds to be paid to the agency for the next 
calendar year;
(g)
a map of the project area;
(h)
a description of how the goals, policies, and purposes of the project area plan have 
been furthered during the preceding year; and
(i)
any other relevant information the agency elects to provide.
(5)
An agency with no active project area shall, no later than June 30 of each year until the 
agency is dissolved under Section 
17C-1-701.5
, submit a report to the office stating that 
the agency has no active project area.
(6)
Any information an agency submits in accordance with this section:
(a)
is for informational purposes only; and
(b)
does not alter the amount of project area funds that an agency is authorized to receive 
from a project area.
(7)
The provisions of this section apply regardless of when the agency or project area is 
created.
(8)
On or before September 1 of each year, the office shall prepare and submit an annual 
written report to the Political Subdivisions Interim Committee that identifies
the 
agencies that complied and the agencies that failed to comply with the reporting 
requirements of this section during the preceding reporting period.
(9)
(a)
If, by September 30 of the year the information is due, the office does not receive 
the information that an agency is required to submit under Subsection (4), the office 
shall:
(i)
refer the noncompliant agency to the state auditor for review; and
(ii)
post a notice on the office website identifying the noncompliant agency and 
describing the agency's noncompliance.
(b)
If the office does not receive a report an agency is required to submit under 
Subsection (5), the office shall refer the noncompliant agency to the state auditor for 
review.
(c)
If, for two consecutive years, the office does not receive information an agency is 
required to submit under Subsection (4):
(i)
the office shall, no later than July 31 of the second consecutive year, notify the 
auditor and treasurer of the county in which the noncompliant agency is located of 
the agency's noncompliance; and
(ii)
upon receiving the notice described in Subsection (9)(c)(i), the county treasurer 
shall withhold from the agency 20% of the amount of tax increment the agency is 
otherwise entitled to receive
.
(d)
until 
If, after having funds withheld under Subsection (9)(c)(ii), an agency 
complies with Subsection (4):
(i)
the office 
notifies
shall notify
 the county auditor and treasurer that the agency has 
complied with the requirement of Subsection (4)
; and
(ii)
the county treasurer shall disburse the withheld funds to the agency
.
Section 2, Section 
17C-1-606
 is amended to read:
17C-1-606
. County auditor report on project areas.
(1)
(a)
On or before March 31 of each year, the auditor of each county in which an 
agency is located shall prepare a report on the project areas within each agency.
(b)
The county auditor shall send a copy of each report under Subsection 
(1)(a)
 to the 
agency that is the subject of the report, the State Tax Commission, the State Board of 
Education, and each taxing entity from which the agency receives tax increment.
(c)
On or before March 31 of each year, the county auditor shall submit a copy of each 
report under Subsection 
(1)(a)
 to the Governor's Office of Economic Opportunity for 
inclusion in the database described in Section 
17C-1-603
.
(2)
Each report under Subsection 
(1)(a)
 shall report:
(a)
the total assessed property value within each project area for the previous tax year;
(b)
the base taxable value of each project area for the previous tax year;
(c)
the tax increment available to be paid to the agency for the previous tax year;
(d)
the tax increment requested by the agency for the previous tax year; and
(e)
the tax increment paid to the agency for the previous tax year.
(3)
Within 30 days after a request by an agency, the State Tax Commission, the State Board 
of Education, or any taxing entity from which the agency receives tax increment, the 
county auditor or the county assessor shall provide access to:
(a)
the county auditor's method and calculations used to make adjustments under 
Section 
17C-1-408
;
(b)
the unequalized assessed valuation of an existing or proposed project area, or any 
parcel or parcels within an existing or proposed project area, if the equalized assessed 
valuation has not yet been determined for that year;
(c)
the most recent equalized assessed valuation of an existing or proposed project area 
or any parcel or parcels within an existing or proposed project area; and
(d)
the tax rate of each taxing entity adopted as of November 1 for the previous tax year.
(4)
Each report described in Subsection 
(1)(a)
 shall include:
(a)
sufficient detail regarding the calculations performed by a county auditor so that an 
agency or other interested party could repeat and verify the calculations; and
(b)
a detailed explanation of any adjustments made to the base taxable value of each 
project area. 
Section 3, Section 
17C-1-607
 is amended to read:
17C-1-607
. State Tax Commission and county assessor required to account for 
new growth -- County auditor notification requirements.
Upon the expiration of a project area funds collection period
, 
:
(1)
the State Tax Commission and the assessor of each county in which a project area is 
located shall count as new growth the assessed value of property with respect to which 
the taxing entity is receiving taxes or increased taxes for the first time
.
; and
(2)
the county auditor shall:
(a)
notify each taxing entity that levies or imposes a tax within the project area of the 
expiration of the project area funds collection period; and
(b)
provide each taxing entity with the calculation of new growth attributed to the 
project area.
Section 4. 
Effective Date.
This bill takes effect on 
May 7, 2025
.
3-12-25 4:37 PM