Senate debates infrastructure finance districts after amendment to require unanimous landowner consent

Senators debated House Bill 13 on Feb. 12, legislation that would allow property owners to form infrastructure financing districts to fund local public infrastructure when conventional financing is unavailable.

Senator Mike Cullimore, who presented the measure and moved Amendment 4, said the amendment adds a narrow restriction: districts could extend assessment repayment terms only with unanimous consent of landowners in the district. "This just allows for these infrastructure financing districts to extend the term of their assessment or the repayment of the assessment only if they get all land homeowners' agreement," he told colleagues.

Cullimore described the financing tool as intended to unlock development on entitled but unimproved lots by enabling landowners to form a district with unanimous consent and borrow against parcel assessments. He said bonding proceeds would be held in trust and dispersed as projects are built, and the district would be extinguished once the last property repaid its portion of the bonds.

The sponsor emphasized statutory safeguards to protect local jurisdictions' ownership of infrastructure and to cap taxing powers, saying the districts "cannot construct infrastructure not approved by the local jurisdictions" and are designed so local governments are not financially liable for defaults.

Senators placed technical amendments and the bill on the third‑reading calendar; floor action later placed the bill on the third‑reading table pending a fiscal note. The bill's sponsor said the tool addresses a large national funding market that has been underutilized in Utah and aims to accelerate infrastructure for homebuilding on lots already entitled.

The Senate adopted Amendment 4 and later moved HB 13 to the third‑reading table for fiscal review.