17B-1-643. Imposing or increasing a fee for service provided by special district.
(1)
Terms Used In Utah Code 17B-1-643
Budget: means a plan of financial operations for a fiscal year which embodies estimates of proposed expenditures for given purposes and the proposed means of financing them, and may refer to the budget of a particular fund for which a budget is required by law or it may refer collectively to the budgets for all such funds. See Utah Code 17B-1-601
Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
Person: means an individual, corporation, partnership, organization, association, trust, governmental agency, or other legal entity. See Utah Code 17B-1-102
Special district: means a limited purpose local government entity, as described in Section 17B-1-103, that operates under, is subject to, and has the powers described in:
State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes a state, district, or territory of the United States. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
(a)
Before imposing a new fee or increasing an existing fee for a service provided by a special district, each special district board of trustees shall first hold a public hearing at which:
(i)
the special district shall demonstrate its need to impose or increase the fee; and
(ii)
any interested person may speak for or against the proposal to impose a fee or to increase an existing fee.
(b)
Each public hearing under Subsection (1)(a) shall be held in the evening beginning no earlier than 6 p.m.
(c)
A public hearing required under this Subsection (1) may be combined with a public hearing on a tentative budget required under Section 17B-1-610.
(d)
Except to the extent that this section imposes more stringent notice requirements, the special district board shall comply with Title 52, Chapter 4, Open and Public Meetings Act, in holding the public hearing under Subsection (1)(a).
(2)
(a)
Each special district board shall give notice of a hearing under Subsection (1) as provided in Subsections (2)(b) and (c) or Subsection (2)(d).
(b)
The special district board shall publish the notice described in Subsection (2)(a) for the special district, as a class A notice under Section 63G-30-102, for at least 30 days.
(c)
The notice described in Subsection (2)(b) shall state that the special district board intends to impose or increase a fee for a service provided by the special district and will hold a public hearing on a certain day, time, and place fixed in the notice, which shall be not less than seven days after the day the first notice is published, for the purpose of hearing comments regarding the proposed imposition or increase of a fee and to explain the reasons for the proposed imposition or increase.
(d)
(i)
In lieu of providing notice under Subsection (2)(b), the special district board of trustees may give the notice required under Subsection (2)(a) by mailing the notice to those within the district who:
(A)
will be charged the fee for a district service, if the fee is being imposed for the first time; or
(B)
are being charged a fee, if the fee is proposed to be increased.
(ii)
Each notice under Subsection (2)(d)(i) shall comply with Subsection (2)(c).
(iii)
A notice under Subsection (2)(d)(i) may accompany a district bill for an existing fee.
(e)
If the hearing required under this section is combined with the public hearing required under Section 17B-1-610, the notice required under this Subsection (2):
(i)
may be combined with the notice required under Section 17B-1-609; and
(ii)
shall be posted or mailed in accordance with the notice provisions of this section.
(f)
Proof that notice was given as provided in Subsection (2)(b) or (d) is prima facie evidence that notice was properly given.
(g)
If no challenge is made to the notice given of a hearing required by Subsection (1) within 30 days after the date of the hearing, the notice is considered adequate and proper.
(h)
After holding a public hearing under Subsection (1), a special district board may:
(i)
impose the new fee or increase the existing fee as proposed;
(ii)
adjust the amount of the proposed new fee or the increase of the existing fee and then impose the new fee or increase the existing fee as adjusted; or
(iii)
decline to impose the new fee or increase the existing fee.
(i)
This section applies to each new fee imposed and each increase of an existing fee that occurs on or after July 1, 1998.
