March 21, 2025

March 21, 2025 — Legislative Recap & the latest on Kimball Junction EIS

11 minutes

Hey everyone! Welcome back to another week of news here on Summit in Six. Today, we cover this week’s County Council meeting, which included a legislative recap and an update on a childcare scholarship program launched last year. Then, we give a quick preview of some key events happening next week. Alright, let’s get into the news!

TOPIC 1: Legislative Recap

At this week’s County Council meeting, Deputy County Manager, Janna Young, went over the outcomes of the 2025 Utah State Legislature’s General Session – what bills passed, what they might mean for Summit County, and more.

Today, we’ll only highlight a few of those. If you want to listen to Janna’s recap, please visit: summitcounty.info/councilrecording. On the right-hand side of that screen, an agenda will be displayed. Find the item titled “2025 Legislative Recap” and click on the staff report linked to review the full list of bills that passed.

First up, let’s talk about Senate Bill 26, which focuses on Housing and Transit Reinvestment Zones Amendments. This bill makes several modifications to the Housing and Transit Reinvestment statute, primarily regarding convention facilities. It however also includes language providing Dakota Pacific Real Estate (DPRE) with the authority to build a development in Kimball Junction in the density and uses consistent with the amended development agreement the Summit County Council approved last December.

Up next, we want the public to know about House Bill 356, called County Governance Amendments. This bill targets Summit County’s form of government by requiring all five council members to be elected from districts instead of at-large – which is the current structure. Summit County has several concerns with HB356 the most important being that we believe the ability to determine representation at the local, not state, level is a cornerstone of democracy. Our current council structure was chosen by voters in 2006 and this bill overturns that decision and the will of our community. Additionally, districts would disproportionately favor incorporated cities and towns over the county’s larger unincorporated population. Two-thirds of Summit County’s population live in the unincorporated county with one-third living in the cities and towns. HB356 gives each of the six cities and towns a seat on the Districting Commission and provides only one seat for the unincorporated area. Further, to transition the county to the new district system, the bill arbitrarily assigns current council members to districts “by lot,” potentially placing them outside their own communities. Lastly, the bill reduces voters’ representation from five to one, eliminating at-large seats and weakening broad accountability. At-large representation serves an important and unifying role on the council and in the county.

Let’s move onto an elections-related bill that changes mail-in voting systems a bit. Starting January 1, 2028, House Bill 300 will now require voters to opt into receiving a ballot by mail. After they opt in, voters can continue receiving by-mail ballots for eight years, as long as they continue to be active voters. Additionally, upon returning their voted ballot to the Clerk’s Office, voters must write the last four digits of their government issued identification card (like a driver license or another state ID) on their ballot’s return envelope. The bill also now requires mail-in ballots to be received by the Clerk’s Office by 8pm on Election day instead of the current postmark rule, which is that your ballot must be postmarked by the day before Election Day.

Now, let’s talk short-term rentals. House Bill 256 updates Utah’s rules on short-term rentals (like Airbnb and VRBO), giving cities and counties more control over how they operate. The bill allows local governments to require business licenses, use rental listings as evidence of illegal rentals and request websites to remove listings that break local laws. The bill also ensures short-term rental owners pay applicable fees and makes other legal clarifications. The bill takes effect May 7, 2025.

And, finally there were several tax-related bills:

Senate Bill 197 replaces the circuit breaker/homeowner’s tax credit with a tax deferral, which effectively ending the tax credit for anyone not already enrolled. Counties fought hard against this change as many of our low-income or senior residents rely on the circuit breaker program to remain in their homes. A deferral program only saddles the heirs of these homeowners with debt as the tax deferral also accrues interest over the years.

House Bill 106 gives Utahns a fifth year of tax cuts, lowering the income tax rate from 4.55% to 4.5%. The average Utah family will see annual savings of about $45. The bill also gives businesses a 20% tax credit for creating new child care options for employees and expands the child tax credit to include children who are 5 years old and under the age of one.

Senate Bill 91 aims to provide parity in the restaurant tax between restaurants and prepared foods sold at groceries and convenience stores. Currently, there is a carve out for prepared foods sold at groceries and convenience stores, which are not subject to the tax. This bill would remove that carve out. It can be seen as a tax increase but again the intent is parity. Counties will receive additional revenues as a result of this bill.

And, House Bill 456 passed modifications to the TRT or Transient Room Tax. The version that was adopted includes a new definition of “establishing and promoting,” which is concerning to the Park City Chamber of Commerce, Visitor’s Bureau. They are unsure if they can still use TRT revenues on the visitor center, bike share program, sustainable tourism, and other efforts to manage and educate visitors. Other than that concern, Summit County is comfortable with the bill. It allows us flexibility to use TRT revenues on establishing and promoting, capital projects for tourism, and tourism mitigation.

From here, Summit County staff will meet sometime in April to discuss all the bills that passed and better understand what, if any, actions the county needs to take to comply with new legislation.

The interim session will begin during late spring and throughout the summer months when the Utah Legislature meets once per month in joint committees between the House of Representatives and the Senate. Summit County will use the interim to collaborate with legislators on issues we care about and focus on relationship building. The County plans to share our good stories and continue to highlight our challenges, innovative solutions, and partnerships around water, public lands and natural resources, transportation and transit, housing, childcare, and Olympics planning.

TOPIC 2: Childcare Impact Report

Last year, Summit County pledged $130,000 to Park City Municipal Corporation’s community childcare scholarship program. These funds expanded the program to families who live and work outside of Park City boundaries, extending eligibility to the entire county.

The county’s expansion officially kicked off in July 2024 and the funds were exhausted within the first four months! After that, in October 2024, the county committed an additional $53,850 to cover enrolled families until the end of the year.

At this week’s Council meeting, Deputy County Manager, Janna Young, shared that the program’s administrator, Upwards, released an Impact Report that provides key data about the program’s inaugural year.

Some highlights included that…

In the first year of the program: 125 families, 150 children, and 28 childcare providers were supported.

79% of families reported significant relief from financial stress.

60% of parents were able to select a childcare provider they could not have otherwise afforded.

82% of participating childcare providers experienced increased enrollment.

It’s awesome to see the impact this program expansion has had on our community so far! In the 2025 budget, the County Council approved a new allocation of $300,000 to continue these needs-based scholarships to families who live or work in Summit County.

If you’re interested in learning more about this program, please visit: upwards.com/childcare-assistance/park-city.

TOPIC 3: Preview of Next Week

We’ll wrap things up today, with a peek into what our listeners can expect next week in the county!

UDOT presentation on the Kimball Junction EIS: On Wednesday of next week, which is March 26, at the regularly scheduled County Council meeting, the Utah Department of Transportation (or UDOT) will present its draft Kimball Junction Environmental Impact Statement or EIS. The draft EIS includes a detailed evaluation of alternatives A and C, taking into consideration things like land use, neighborhoods, residential and commercial properties, noise, air quality, water resources and floodplains, ecosystem resources and special status species, and visual setting. In the draft EIS, UDOT also identified their preferred alternative as Alternative C. If our listeners remember, this alternative includes features like: extra lanes on the I-80 ramps and SR-224, a second lane at the Ute Boulevard and Landmark Drive roundabout, a new pedestrian underpass near Ute Boulevard, shifted and improved trails, new bike lanes on SR-224, and intersection upgrades at Ute Boulevard and Olympic Parkway. We encourage our listeners to tune into next week’s County Council meeting! Again, that’s happening Wednesday, March 26. You can get more information on that meeting in the county’s Agenda and Minutes Center at summitcounty.info/agendacenter. UDOT is also currently hosting a public comment period on the Draft EIS that runs through April 28. Take a look at the published report and share your input with them at kimballjunctioneis.udot.utah.gov.

Roots of Conservation Event: Also next week, the Summit County Lands and Natural Resources Department is launching an educational series titled Roots of Conservation: Growing the Conversation. This series will bring in partners to speak on various conservation-related topics. Their first session, which will take place on Tuesday, March 25 from 5-7 PM at the Kamas Valley Library, will focus on Conservation Easements 101 and will feature Summit Land Conservancy and independent landowners who have chosen to conserve their land through conservation easements. If you’re interested, again, join the County Lands and Natural Resources Department next week on Tuesday, March 25 from 5-7 PM at 110 N Main Street in Kamas!

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