House approves local government fees bill after rejecting broader religious exemption

The Utah House passed House Bill 454 on March 3, a measure that sets statewide rules for certain local government fees that some cities have used to cover transportation infrastructure impacts.

Representative Karen Peterson, sponsor of HB 454, said the bill places guardrails on local transportation utility fees — including a public process for adoption similar to truth‑in‑taxation procedures and a 10‑year expiration to keep the user‑nexus current. Peterson said the bill narrowly exempts certain religious meeting houses and administrative buildings from some fees but that other property owned by religious organizations would remain subject to fees under the substitute she proposed and ultimately presented.

On the floor members debated a broader substitute that would have created a more expansive exemption for religious and nonprofit entities. Representatives including Thurston, Shepherd and Snyder spoke in opposition to a broad exemption, arguing it would shift costs to other taxpayers and further concentrate fee burdens in cities with large nonprofit land ownership. Supporters of a broader exemption said religious organizations provide community services and should not be subject to certain fees. After floor debate the House rejected the broader exemption substitute and approved the underlying bill, HB 454, by a vote of 70 yea and 3 nay.

Representative Peterson said the bill does not affect franchise fees for electric or telephone utilities and does not change existing arrangements for Connect Utopia or Google Fiber. She also said the bill permits volunteer fire departments to charge fees where appropriate and requires more public transparency in how municipalities adopt and renew these user fees.

The bill will now be transmitted to the Senate for consideration.