Utah Code 20A-7-601. Referenda — General signature requirements — Signature requirements for land use laws, subjurisdictional laws, and transit area land use laws — Time requirements
20A-7-601. Referenda — General signature requirements — Signature requirements for land use laws, subjurisdictional laws, and transit area land use laws — Time requirements.
(1)
As used in this section:
Terms Used In Utah Code 20A-7-601
City: includes , depending on population, a metro township as defined in Section 10-3c-102. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
Eligible voter: means a legal voter who resides in the jurisdiction of the county, city, or town that is holding an election on a ballot proposition. See Utah Code 20A-7-101
Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
Land use law: means a law of general applicability, enacted based on the weighing of broad, competing policy considerations, that relates to the use of land, including land use regulation, a general plan, a land use development code, an annexation ordinance, the rezoning of a single property or multiple properties, or a comprehensive zoning ordinance or resolution. See Utah Code 20A-7-101
Legal signatures: means the number of signatures of legal voters that:
(a)
meet the numerical requirements of this chapter; and
(b)
have been obtained, certified, and verified as provided in this chapter. See Utah Code 20A-7-101
Local law: includes :
(i)
an ordinance;
(ii)
a resolution;
(iii)
a land use law;
(iv)
a land use regulation, as defined in Section 10-9a-103; or
(v)
other legislative action of a local legislative body. See Utah Code 20A-7-101
Local legislative body: means the legislative body of a county, city, town, or metro township. See Utah Code 20A-7-101
Local obligation law: means a local law passed by the local legislative body regarding a bond that was approved by a majority of qualified voters in an election. See Utah Code 20A-7-101
Municipality: means a city, town, or metro township. See Utah Code 20A-1-102
Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
Referendum: means a process by which a law passed by the Legislature or by a local legislative body is submitted or referred to the voters for their approval or rejection. See Utah Code 20A-7-101
Referendum application: means :
(a)
for a statewide referendum, an application described in Subsection 20A-7-302(2) that includes all the information, statements, documents, and notarized signatures required under Subsection 20A-7-302(2); or
(b)
for a local referendum, an application described in Subsection 20A-7-602(2) that includes all the information, statements, documents, and notarized signatures required under Subsection 20A-7-602(2). See Utah Code 20A-7-101
Referendum petition: means :
(a)
as it relates to a statewide referendum, using the manual referendum process, the form described in Subsection 20A-7-303(2)(a), petitioning for submission of a law passed by the Legislature to legal voters for their approval or rejection;
(b)
as it relates to a statewide referendum, using the electronic referendum process, the form described in Subsection 20A-7-313(2), petitioning for submission of a law passed by the Legislature to legal voters for their approval or rejection;
(c)
as it relates to a local referendum, using the manual referendum process, the form described in Subsection 20A-7-603(2)(a), petitioning for submission of a local law to legal voters for their approval or rejection; or
(d)
as it relates to a local referendum, using the electronic referendum process, the form described in Subsection 20A-7-614(2), petitioning for submission of a local law to legal voters for their approval or rejection. See Utah Code 20A-7-101
Signature: includes a name, mark, or sign written with the intent to authenticate an instrument or writing. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
Town: includes , depending on population, a metro township as defined in Section 10-3c-102. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
“Number of active voters” means the number of active voters in the county, city, or town on the immediately preceding January 1.
(b)
“Qualifying county” means a county that has created a small public transit district, as defined in Section 17B-2a-802, on or before January 1, 2022.
(c)
“Qualifying transit area” means:
(i)
a station area, as defined in Section 10-9a-403.1, for which the municipality with jurisdiction over the station area has satisfied the requirements of Subsection 10-9a-403.1(2)(a)(i), as demonstrated by the adoption of a station area plan or resolution under Subsection 10-9a-403.1(2); or
(ii)
a housing and transit reinvestment zone, as defined in Section 63N-3-602, created within a qualifying county.
(d)
“Subjurisdiction” means an area comprised of all precincts and subprecincts in the jurisdiction of a county, city, or town that are subject to a subjurisdictional law.
(e)
(i)
“Subjurisdictional law” means a local law or local obligation law passed by a local legislative body that imposes a tax or other payment obligation on property in an area that does not include all precincts and subprecincts under the jurisdiction of the county, city, town, or metro township.
(ii)
“Subjurisdictional law” does not include a land use law.
(f)
“Transit area land use law” means a land use law that relates to the use of land within a qualifying transit area.
(g)
“Voter participation area” means an area described in Subsection 20A-7-401.3(1)(a) or (2)(b).
(2)
Except as provided in Subsections (3) through (5), an eligible voter seeking to have a local law passed by the local legislative body submitted to a vote of the people shall, after filing a referendum application, obtain legal signatures equal to:
(a)
for a county of the first class:
(i)
7.75% of the number of active voters in the county; and
(ii)
beginning on January 1, 2020, 7.75% of the number of active voters in at least 75% of the county’s voter participation areas;
(b)
for a metro township with a population of 100,000 or more, or a city of the first class:
(i)
7.5% of the number of active voters in the metro township or city; and
(ii)
beginning on January 1, 2020, 7.5% of the number of active voters in at least 75% of the metro township’s or city’s voter participation areas;
(c)
for a county of the second class:
(i)
8% of the number of active voters in the county; and
(ii)
beginning on January 1, 2020, 8% of the number of active voters in at least 75% of the county’s voter participation areas;
(d)
for a metro township with a population of 65,000 or more but less than 100,000, or a city of the second class:
(i)
8.25% of the number of active voters in the metro township or city; and
(ii)
beginning on January 1, 2020, 8.25% of the number of active voters in at least 75% of the metro township’s or city’s voter participation areas;
(e)
for a county of the third class:
(i)
9.5% of the number of active voters in the county; and
(ii)
beginning on January 1, 2020, 9.5% of the number of active voters in at least 75% of the county’s voter participation areas;
(f)
for a metro township with a population of 30,000 or more but less than 65,000, or a city of the third class:
(i)
10% of the number of active voters in the metro township or city; and
(ii)
beginning on January 1, 2020, 10% of the number of active voters in at least 75% of the metro township’s or city’s voter participation areas;
(g)
for a county of the fourth class:
(i)
11.5% of the number of active voters in the county; and
(ii)
beginning on January 1, 2020, 11.5% of the number of active voters in at least 75% of the county’s voter participation areas;
(h)
for a metro township with a population of 10,000 or more but less than 30,000, or a city of the fourth class:
(i)
11.5% of the number of active voters in the metro township or city; and
(ii)
beginning on January 1, 2020, 11.5% of the number of active voters in at least 75% of the metro township’s or city’s voter participation areas;
(i)
for a metro township with a population of 1,000 or more but less than 10,000, a city of the fifth class, or a county of the fifth class, 25% of the number of active voters in the metro township, city, or county; or
(j)
for a metro township with a population of less than 1,000, a town, or a county of the sixth class, 35% of the number of active voters in the metro township, town, or county.
(3)
Except as provided in Subsection (4) or (5), an eligible voter seeking to have a land use law or local obligation law passed by the local legislative body submitted to a vote of the people shall, after filing a referendum application, obtain legal signatures equal to:
(a)
for a county of the first, second, third, or fourth class:
(i)
16% of the number of active voters in the county; and
(ii)
beginning on January 1, 2020, 16% of the number of active voters in at least 75% of the county’s voter participation areas;
(b)
for a county of the fifth or sixth class:
(i)
16% of the number of active voters in the county; and
(ii)
beginning on January 1, 2020, 16% of the number of active voters in at least 75% of the county’s voter participation areas;
(c)
for a metro township with a population of 100,000 or more, or a city of the first class:
(i)
15% of the number of active voters in the metro township or city; and
(ii)
beginning on January 1, 2020, 15% of the number of active voters in at least 75% of the metro township’s or city’s voter participation areas;
(d)
for a metro township with a population of 65,000 or more but less than 100,000, or a city of the second class:
(i)
16% of the number of active voters in the metro township or city; and
(ii)
beginning on January 1, 2020, 16% of the number of active voters in at least 75% of the metro township’s or city’s voter participation areas;
(e)
for a metro township with a population of 30,000 or more but less than 65,000, or a city of the third class:
(i)
27.5% of the number of active voters in the metro township or city; and
(ii)
beginning on January 1, 2020, 27.5% of the number of active voters in at least 75% of the metro township’s or city’s voter participation areas;
(f)
for a metro township with a population of 10,000 or more but less than 30,000, or a city of the fourth class:
(i)
29% of the number of active voters in the metro township or city; and
(ii)
beginning on January 1, 2020, 29% of the number of active voters in at least 75% of the metro township’s or city’s voter participation areas;
(g)
for a metro township with a population of 1,000 or more but less than 10,000, or a city of the fifth class, 35% of the number of active voters in the metro township or city; or
(h)
for a metro township with a population of less than 1,000 or a town, 40% of the number of active voters in the metro township or town.
(4)
A person seeking to have a subjurisdictional law passed by the local legislative body submitted to a vote of the people shall, after filing a referendum application, obtain legal signatures of the residents in the subjurisdiction equal to:
(a)
10% of the number of active voters in the subjurisdiction if the number of active voters exceeds 25,000;
(b)
12-1/2% of the number of active voters in the subjurisdiction if the number of active voters does not exceed 25,000 but is more than 10,000;
(c)
15% of the number of active voters in the subjurisdiction if the number of active voters does not exceed 10,000 but is more than 2,500;
(d)
20% of the number of active voters in the subjurisdiction if the number of active voters does not exceed 2,500 but is more than 500;
(e)
25% of the number of active voters in the subjurisdiction if the number of active voters does not exceed 500 but is more than 250; and
(f)
30% of the number of active voters in the subjurisdiction if the number of active voters does not exceed 250.
(5)
An eligible voter seeking to have a transit area land use law passed by the local legislative body submitted to a vote of the people shall, after filing a referendum application, obtain legal signatures equal to:
(a)
for a county:
(i)
20% of the number of active voters in the county; and
(ii)
21% of the number of active voters in at least 75% of the county’s voter participation areas;
(b)
for a metro township with a population of 100,000 or more, or a city of the first class:
(i)
20% of the number of active voters in the metro township or city; and
(ii)
20% of the number of active voters in at least 75% of the metro township’s or city’s voter participation areas;
(c)
for a metro township with a population of 65,000 or more but less than 100,000, or a city of the second class:
(i)
20% of the number of active voters in the metro township or city; and
(ii)
21% of the number of active voters in at least 75% of the metro township’s or city’s voter participation areas;
(d)
for a metro township with a population of 30,000 or more but less than 65,000, or a city of the third class:
(i)
34% of the number of active voters in the metro township or city; and
(ii)
34% of the number of active voters in at least 75% of the metro township’s or city’s voter participation areas;
(e)
for a metro township with a population of 10,000 or more but less than 30,000, or a city of the fourth class:
(i)
36% of the number of active voters in the metro township or city; and
(ii)
36% of the number of active voters in at least 75% of the metro township’s or city’s voter participation areas; or
(f)
for a metro township with a population less than 10,000, a city of the fifth class, or a town, 40% of the number of active voters in the metro township, city, or town.
(6)
Sponsors of any referendum petition challenging, under Subsection (2), (3), (4), or (5), any local law passed by a local legislative body shall file the application before 5 p.m. within seven days after the day on which the local law was passed.
(7)
Nothing in this section authorizes a local legislative body to impose a tax or other payment obligation on a subjurisdiction in order to benefit an area outside of the subjurisdiction.
Amended by Chapter 107, 2023 General Session Amended by Chapter 219, 2023 General Session
