(1) As used in this section:

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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
  • Equal: means , with respect to biological sex, of the same value. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
  • 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: includes :
         (18)(a) land;
         (18)(b) a tenement;
         (18)(c) a hereditament;
         (18)(d) a water right;
         (18)(e) a possessory right; and
         (18)(f) a claim. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
  • 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:
         (16)(a) meet the numerical requirements of this chapter; and
         (16)(b) have been obtained, certified, and verified as provided in this chapter. See Utah Code 20A-7-101
  • Local law: includes :
              (21)(a)(i) an ordinance;
              (21)(a)(ii) a resolution;
              (21)(a)(iii) a land use law;
              (21)(a)(iv) a land use regulation, as defined in Section 10-9a-103; or
              (21)(a)(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, or town. 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 or town. 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.
  • Person: means :
         (24)(a) an individual;
         (24)(b) an association;
         (24)(c) an institution;
         (24)(d) a corporation;
         (24)(e) a company;
         (24)(f) a trust;
         (24)(g) a limited liability company;
         (24)(h) a partnership;
         (24)(i) a political subdivision;
         (24)(j) a government office, department, division, bureau, or other body of government; and
         (24)(k) any other organization or entity. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
  • Property: includes both real and personal property. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
  • 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 :
         (30)(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
         (30)(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 :
         (32)(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;
         (32)(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;
         (32)(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
         (32)(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
  • Sponsors: means the legal voters who support the initiative or referendum and who sign the initiative application or referendum application. See Utah Code 20A-7-101
  • Town: includes , depending on population, a metro township as defined in Section 10-3c-102. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
  • Voter: means an individual who:
         (79)(a) meets the requirements for voting in an election;
         (79)(b) meets the requirements of election registration;
         (79)(c) is registered to vote; and
         (79)(d) is listed in the official register book. See Utah Code 20A-1-102
     (1)(a) “Number of active voters” means the number of active voters in the county, city, or town on the immediately preceding January 1.
     (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.
     (1)(c) “Qualifying transit area” means:

          (1)(c)(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
          (1)(c)(ii) a housing and transit reinvestment zone, as defined in Section 63N-3-602, created within a qualifying county.
     (1)(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.
     (1)(e)

          (1)(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, or town.
          (1)(e)(ii) “Subjurisdictional law” does not include a land use law.
     (1)(f) “Transit area land use law” means a land use law that relates to the use of land within a qualifying transit area.
     (1)(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:

     (2)(a) for a county of the first class:

          (2)(a)(i) 7.75% of the number of active voters in the county; and
          (2)(a)(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;
     (2)(b) for a city of the first class:

          (2)(b)(i) 7.5% of the number of active voters in the city; and
          (2)(b)(ii) beginning on January 1, 2020, 7.5% of the number of active voters in at least 75% of the city’s voter participation areas;
     (2)(c) for a county of the second class:

          (2)(c)(i) 8% of the number of active voters in the county; and
          (2)(c)(ii) beginning on January 1, 2020, 8% of the number of active voters in at least 75% of the county’s voter participation areas;
     (2)(d) for a city of the second class:

          (2)(d)(i) 8.25% of the number of active voters in the city; and
          (2)(d)(ii) beginning on January 1, 2020, 8.25% of the number of active voters in at least 75% of the city’s voter participation areas;
     (2)(e) for a county of the third class:

          (2)(e)(i) 9.5% of the number of active voters in the county; and
          (2)(e)(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;
     (2)(f) for a city of the third class:

          (2)(f)(i) 10% of the number of active voters in the city; and
          (2)(f)(ii) beginning on January 1, 2020, 10% of the number of active voters in at least 75% of the city’s voter participation areas;
     (2)(g) for a county of the fourth class:

          (2)(g)(i) 11.5% of the number of active voters in the county; and
          (2)(g)(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;
     (2)(h) for a city of the fourth class:

          (2)(h)(i) 11.5% of the number of active voters in the city; and
          (2)(h)(ii) beginning on January 1, 2020, 11.5% of the number of active voters in at least 75% of the city’s voter participation areas;
     (2)(i) for a city of the fifth class or a county of the fifth class, 25% of the number of active voters in the city or county; or
     (2)(j) for a town or a county of the sixth class, 35% of the number of active voters in the 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:

     (3)(a) for a county of the first, second, third, or fourth class:

          (3)(a)(i) 16% of the number of active voters in the county; and
          (3)(a)(ii) beginning on January 1, 2020, 16% of the number of active voters in at least 75% of the county’s voter participation areas;
     (3)(b) for a county of the fifth or sixth class:

          (3)(b)(i) 16% of the number of active voters in the county; and
          (3)(b)(ii) beginning on January 1, 2020, 16% of the number of active voters in at least 75% of the county’s voter participation areas;
     (3)(c) for a city of the first class:

          (3)(c)(i) 15% of the number of active voters in the city; and
          (3)(c)(ii) beginning on January 1, 2020, 15% of the number of active voters in at least 75% of the city’s voter participation areas;
     (3)(d) for or a city of the second class:

          (3)(d)(i) 16% of the number of active voters in the city; and
          (3)(d)(ii) beginning on January 1, 2020, 16% of the number of active voters in at least 75% of the city’s voter participation areas;
     (3)(e) for a city of the third class:

          (3)(e)(i) 27.5% of the number of active voters in the city; and
          (3)(e)(ii) beginning on January 1, 2020, 27.5% of the number of active voters in at least 75% of the city’s voter participation areas;
     (3)(f) for a city of the fourth class:

          (3)(f)(i) 29% of the number of active voters in the city; and
          (3)(f)(ii) beginning on January 1, 2020, 29% of the number of active voters in at least 75% of the city’s voter participation areas;
     (3)(g) for a city of the fifth class, 35% of the number of active voters in the city; or
     (3)(h) for a town, 40% of the number of active voters in the 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:

     (4)(a) 10% of the number of active voters in the subjurisdiction if the number of active voters exceeds 25,000;
     (4)(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;
     (4)(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;
     (4)(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;
     (4)(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
     (4)(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:

     (5)(a) for a county:

          (5)(a)(i) 20% of the number of active voters in the county; and
          (5)(a)(ii) 21% of the number of active voters in at least 75% of the county’s voter participation areas;
     (5)(b) for a city of the first class:

          (5)(b)(i) 20% of the number of active voters in the city; and
          (5)(b)(ii) 20% of the number of active voters in at least 75% of the city’s voter participation areas;
     (5)(c) for a city of the second class:

          (5)(c)(i) 20% of the number of active voters in the city; and
          (5)(c)(ii) 21% of the number of active voters in at least 75% of the city’s voter participation areas;
     (5)(d) for a city of the third class:

          (5)(d)(i) 34% of the number of active voters in the city; and
          (5)(d)(ii) 34% of the number of active voters in at least 75% of the city’s voter participation areas;
     (5)(e) for a city of the fourth class:

          (5)(e)(i) 36% of the number of active voters in the city; and
          (5)(e)(ii) 36% of the number of active voters in at least 75% of the city’s voter participation areas; or
     (5)(f) for a city of the fifth class or a town, 40% of the number of active voters in the 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 five 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.

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