County staff, lobbyists brief council on 2025 state legislative session; HB356 and TRT changes among outcomes

County staff and the Summit County Council's lobbying team briefed the council on the 2025 Utah legislative session on March 19, describing both policy wins and items that remain unresolved or controversial.

Jana Young, Summit County's legislative lead, introduced the county's outside team from the Foxley & Pignanelli firm and summarized the county's priorities going into the session: transportation projects (including the Kimball Junction interchange), protecting local land-use authority, energy and utility implications, housing, and securing flexible uses for transient room tax revenue. Frank Pignanelli and Renee Cignanelli of the county's lobbying team joined the briefing.

Key outcomes highlighted during the briefing:

- Resort Communities Tax and TRT flexibility: The legislature approved a new resort communities tax tool and provided additional flexibility for counties' transient room tax (TRT) spending. The change expands eligible uses for TRT in areas such as infrastructure, events and mitigation, and also created a grant program and an optional county rate increase.

- County form of government (HB 356): HB 356, which changes the Summit County council electoral structure from the current at-large configuration to a district-based system, passed late in the session. County officials said the bill was handled with limited public process and that the council and staff had not been given adequate opportunity to address concerns — including assignment of sitting council members to new districts. The council indicated it would continue to pursue remedies, including potential avenues for delay or amendment.

- Elections law changes (HB 300): The session produced voting changes that affect ballot handling and voter registration. Among the notable changes, mailed ballots must be received by the close of polls on election day (rather than merely postmarked), and the state will move to an opt-in vote-by-mail system phased in through 2029. Ballot verification will add a four-digit identifier (last four of driver's license or state ID) tied to signatures; by 2029 signatures may no longer be used as the sole verification method.

- Energy and utility bills: Lawmakers debated multiple energy measures. A high-profile electricity-rate amendment bill aiming to protect Utah ratepayers from costs tied to Pacific Power/Rocky Mountain Power's out-of-state liabilities did not pass, but the legislature signaled ongoing attention to utility rate allocation. A later substitute narrowed nuclear-energy/tax-increment provisions to limit some state control and preserve some county discretion; counties will still need to watch implementation details.

- Other bills: The legislature created a Utah Wildfire Fund to consolidate wildfire prevention and response resources; passed a measure (SB333/Beeline Development Authority) that enables special tools for major sports-event or redevelopment projects; and approved a state law restricting flags allowed in government buildings, which the briefing noted would affect county facilities.

County staff emphasized lessons learned: presence in committee hearings matters (counties must be physically present when a bill directly targets local governance), coalitions are essential, and counties should seek a stronger voice on statewide land-use task forces so local interests are part of consensus bills.

Next steps: staff said May 1 is the first day legislators can file bills for the 2026 session and that interim study committees will begin meeting; staff and the county's lobbying team plan to monitor bill filings, engage early on interim study topics and prepare responses to outstanding implementation questions from newly passed statutes.

Quotes from the briefing:

- Jana Young, Summit County legislative lead: "Our goals for this session... have focused around relationship building. We want to understand and to be understood."

- Frank Pignanelli, Foxley & Pignanelli: "There was a lot of activity going on, a lot of committee hearings... an incredible workload for the staff."

- Renee Cignanelli (lobbyist): praised Summit County staff and elected officials for active engagement and credited coalition work with legislative outcomes.

County staff said they are preparing a detailed follow-up to identify any statutory compliance steps the county must take and will brief the council on bills that require administrative adjustments.