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MINUTES OF THE
POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS INTERIM COMMITTEE
Wednesday, November 18, 1998 - 2:00 p.m. - Room 414 State Capitol
Members Present:
Sen. R. Mont Evans, Senate Chair
Rep. David Ure, House Chair
Rep. John B. Arrington
Rep. DeMar "Bud" Bowman
Rep. Craig W. Buttars
Rep. Blake D. Chard
Rep. Marda Dillree
Rep. David L. Gladwell
Rep. James R. Gowans
Rep. John E. Swallow
Rep. Richard L. Walsh
Members Absent:
Rep. Brian A. Allen
Rep. Greg J. Curtis
Members Excused:
Sen. Leonard M. Blackham
Sen. George Mantes
Staff Present:
Mr. Joseph Wade,
Research Analyst
Mr. Robert H. Rees,
Associate General Counsel
Ms. Joy L. Miller, Secretary
Note: A list of others present and a copy of materials distributed in the meeting are on file in the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel.
1. Call to Order and Committee Business - Chairman Evans called the meeting to order at 2:50 p.m.
MOTION: Rep. Bowman moved to approve the minutes of October 21, 1998. The motion passed unanimously. Reps. Dillree and Swallow were absent during the vote.
2. Follow up Legislation - Property Ombudsman - Rep. Olsen stated the bill was discussed during the last meeting, however, no action was taken because other agencies had not
had an opportunity to review it.
Mr. Randy Hunter, Litigation Coordinator, Utah Department of Transportation, said they
have reviewed the bill and it does not appear to interfere with the department's work as it is
presently drafted.
Mr. Craig Call, State Property Ombudsman, explained the legislation clarifies that while
arbitration is proceeding on property rights issues, litigation will not proceed. When the
arbitration is complete the parties would still have their legal rights reserved.
MOTION: Rep. Ure moved to adopt proposed legislation "Private Property Ombudsman Amendment" as a committee bill. The motion passed unanimously. Reps. Dillree and Swallow
were absent during the vote.
3. Municipal Annexations of Agriculture Protection Areas - Rep. Ure explained the legislation would require the consent of the owners of all property within an agriculture
protection area for an annexation petition of that area or for withdrawal of the area from the
agriculture protection area after annexation.
MOTION: Rep. Gowans moved to adopt proposed legislation "Annexation of Agriculture Protection Areas" as a committee bill. The motion passed unanimously. Reps.
Dillree and Swallow were absent during the vote.
4. Municipal Annexation in First Class Counties - Sen. Evans said it is the intent of the bill to require municipalities in first class counties to accept and grant annexation petitions.
Mr. Dave Spatafore, Utah League of Cities and Towns, said that trying to ease
annexations may be a step in the right direction. However, they have concerns with the way the
bill is currently drafted. He stated that to require a city or town in Salt Lake County to accept an
annexation does not allow the elected officials to represent their constituents as to whether the
annexation will create a tax burden for the current residents.
Sen. Evans indicated he would meet with Mr. Spatafore and the Utah Association of
Counties to discuss the concerns raised with the legislation.
5. School Building Inspections - Mr. Rees reviewed proposed legislation "School Board Oversight of School Inspections." The legislation provides for the development and distribution
of a school building construction and inspection resource manual by the State Board of
Education. It also provides for an annual school construction conference and requires the board
to develop a process for the verification of school building inspections by qualified inspectors.
Ms. Laurie Chivers, Utah State Office of Education, indicated they have put together a
committee that has been reviewing the issue. The committee concluded that an annual
conference and a resource manual are necessary. It has outlined an inspection process which it
feels satisfies the needs of cities and counties as well as school districts and a verification process
to make sure that forms are sent in monthly on projects that are in process. Ms. Chivers
indicated they are comfortable with the content of the legislation, however, they would rather see
it as a board rule.
Ms. Kimm Harty, Utah Geological Survey (UGS), pointed out that currently there is an
administrative rule through the Office of Education that has the UGS performing site evaluations
of proposed school sites. It has become more recent that the USOE has been enforcing that
school districts actually use UGS. Currently there is a backlog of 30 requests for investigations
which represents only four of the 40 school districts in the state.
MOTION: Rep. Gladwell moved to amend proposed legislation "Inspections of Public School Buildings" as follows:
Page 4, Line 97, delete "are occurring" and insert "have occurred"
The motion passed unanimously. Reps. Arrington, Chard, and Swallow were absent for the vote.
MOTION: Rep. Ure moved to adopt proposed legislation "School Board Oversight of School Inspections" as a committee bill and to adopt, as amended, proposed legislation
"Inspections of Public School Buildings" as a committee bill. The motion passed unanimously.
Reps. Arrington, Chard, Dillree, and Swallow were absent during the vote.
6. Concerns with Voting Procedures of Special Districts Having Water Shares - Rep. Gladwell explained that one of the bills adopted by the committee last year was H.B. 227 which
required that every special district board member be elected at a regular general election. One
district was exempted from that provision which is any district formed as an irrigation district
under Chapter 2, Part 7. The bill becomes effective January 1, 2000. Currently irrigation
districts cannot hold elections because all of the election procedures are set forth in one section
of the code and irrigation districts are exempted from that application. He stated that he will
present a bill during the upcoming general session to correct that error.
Mr. Terel Grimley, South Ogden Conservation District and Weber-Box Elder
Conservation District, stated if their elections were held in conjunction with a municipal or
general election, the people would have to go to two separate polling sites - one for the regular
election and one for the district. Election judges in their districts have to be members of the
district and qualified. He said they would like to consolidate the ballots if possible but they can't
because they have to verify that each individual has a different weight of vote in that election by
water shares. He said they would like to go back to a separate election date so that people can
focus on the election in the special district rather than be tied in with a municipal or general
election. Mr. Grimley indicated that prior to the changing of voting of the election in the
districts, if no one else filed to run, the board had the power to appoint the incumbent to another
term. When the law was changed, the process required that if an existing board member would
like to serve another term, he needs to file. If he files and no one else files, they still have to go
through the entire election procedure.
Ms. Liesa Manuel, Utah League of Women Voters, stated the league would oppose
separating election dates. It is common in elections that special ballots are printed. Separating
election dates leads to lower voter turnout.
7. Training of Special District Board Members - Mr. Dave Ovard, Utah Association of
Special Districts, indicated there are about 400 special districts in the state. He said they are
proposing a training requirement to provide an incentive for members of special district boards to
become trained in governance and accountability issues and fiscal responsibility. The proposed
legislation requires newly elected or appointed board or governing body members to complete
the training within 12 months of being elected. It also authorizes the state auditor to develop
training curriculum to provide training and authorizes per diem compensation of board or
governing body members who complete training.
Mr. Eckhard Bauer, Office of the State Auditor, stated his office supports the bill. It is a
positive way to provide training to those districts that cannot afford to hire professional lawyers
and accountants.
Mr. Jan Furner, Utah Association of Special Districts, pointed out that funds for the
program would come from the special districts.
MOTION: Rep. Ure moved to amend the bill as follows:
Line 16: Delete "shall" and insert "should"
The motion passed with Rep. Gladwell voting in opposition. Reps. Arrington and Dillree were
absent during the vote.
Ms. Lois Brown, Women's Legislative Council, stated that by using either "shall" or
"should" does not adequately address the issue of who is going to encourage the training.
MOTION: Rep. Gladwell moved to adopt proposed legislation "Special District Board Training", as amended, as a committee bill. The motion passed unanimously. Reps. Arrington
and Dillree were absent during the vote.
8. County Personnel Management Amendments - Mr. Felix McGowan, Salt Lake County Personnel, gave a brief history on the genesis of the changes being proposed. He stated the first
change has to do with a provision in current statute which requires that all positions open for
promotion within Salt Lake County government must go through an open recruitment and the
creation of a competitive register. Historically that has never happened. The majority of the
county's positions are career ladder positions. Mr. McGowan stated the other issue affecting the
provision requiring the registers is that it prohibits elected official offices to announce their
vacancies to all other departments of county government.
Mr. McGowan said it's the intent of the county to adopt countywide policies to require
agencies to post vacancy notices at a minimum within the division section of their particular
portfolio. He is proposing that they not be required to open it up to the entire county. Where
there are office support positions, all of those vacancies are tested and certified that the
applicants meet the minimum qualifications and a certified list is sent out. He said they will
write countywide rules and regulations that notices be posted at the division level. Mr.
McGowan said they would also propose giving some definition to the kinds of things that
employees can grieve that would be brought before the county's Career Service Council.
Sen. Evans indicated a bill would be drafted and introduced in the next general session.
9. Follow up - Waiver of Governmental Immunity for Perjury by a Government Employee - No discussion or action was taken on this issue.
10. Follow up Legislation - County Government Amendments - Mr. Rees explained that at the last meeting there were some proposals from the Utah Association of Counties presented to
the committee. He reviewed proposed legislation "County Officers Amendments." The bill
repeals language relating to the effect of an officer's absence from the county, district, precinct,
or prosecution district. It also establishes certain behavior as malfeasance in office.
Mr. Brent Gardner, Utah Association of Counties, indicated that the legislation has been
simplified from the previous draft. It puts in place the process that will be necessary for an
independent court to make a decision about whether the duties of the county official have not
been performed.
MOTION: Rep. Swallow moved to amend the bill as follows:
Page 1, Line 29: After "failure" insert ", without reasonable cause,"
The motion passed unanimously. Reps. Arrington, Dillree, Gowans, and Ure were absent during
the vote.
MOTION: Rep. Swallow moved to adopt proposed legislation "County Officers Amendments", as amended, as a committee bill. The motion passed unanimously. Reps.
Arrington, Dillree, Gowans, and Ure were absent during the vote.
Rep. Buttars indicated he would be willing to sponsor the bill.
Mr. Rees reviewed proposed legislation "Combining County Offices Into Multi-County
Offices." The legislation authorizes two or more counties to combine certain offices into multi-
county offices. It is similar to the current law dealing with prosecution districts.
Some members of the committee expressed their concern with the possibility of two or
more people serving in the same position.
Mr. Gardner stated the legislation was patterned after the district attorney statute to give
some flexibility. He said he would envision smaller entities using the provision rather than larger
entities. It would have to require two counties to negotiate how it will work prior to entering into
an agreement.
MOTION: Rep. Chard moved to adopt proposed legislation "Combining County Offices Into Multi-County Offices" as a committee bill. The motion failed with Rep. Chard and Sen.
Evans voting in favor.
Mr. Rees reviewed proposed legislation "Duties of County Assessor and Treasurer." The
bill proposes to change certain duties from the county assessor to the county treasurer.
Mr. Gardner pointed out that they began with a broader piece of legislation. The only
function they could clearly identify where there might be an exchange of responsibility was with
the county assessor and county treasurer. He indicated that there is not a united position as an
association on the issue and it may be better to hold the bill.
MOTION: Rep. Chard moved to adopt proposed legislation "Duties of County Assessor and Treasurer as a committee bill. The motion passed with Reps. Bowman, Buttars, and Walsh
voting in opposition. Reps. Arrington, Dillree, Gowans, and Ure were absent during the vote.
Rep. Chard indicated he would sponsor the bill.
11. Lien on Property for Fire Services - No discussion or action was taken on this item.
MOTION: Rep. Walsh moved to adjourn the meeting at 4:50 p.m. The motion passed unanimously.
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