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House advances pilot allowing universities to develop certain university-owned land to raise revenue
Summary
Lawmakers advanced SB 129, a pilot program to let institutions create Higher Education Development Areas on university-owned land (limited to 75 acres) to generate revenue through public–private development with guardrails including trustee approval, conflict-of-interest limits and reporting requirements.
The House advanced third substitute SB 129, a bill creating a limited pilot that would allow Utah higher-education institutions to develop specified university-owned land as Higher Education Development Areas.
Representative Steve Eliason, the House sponsor, said the proposal is intended to give universities a tool to generate revenue from land they control without relying on student tuition or state tax dollars. The bill is limited to one project per institution within a 10‑year period, and a development area may not exceed 75 acres. Participating institutions would be required to obtain trustee approval, comply with conflict-of-interest restrictions preventing trustees and immediate family from benefiting, hold public meetings and report annually to the Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee.
The bill also allows sharing of the privilege tax with the local municipality: the local taxing authority would receive 20 percent of the privilege tax revenue generated from a qualified development project. Sponsors characterized the measure as a pilot with guardrails designed to allow universities to unlock revenue while subjecting proposals to public review and oversight.
The House recorded passage of the bill on the Senate third reading calendar; the vote was recorded as 69 yes, 1 no.
