What to take away from the ’23 Utah Legislative session

As it is every year, the Utah Legislature passes laws that affect all of our daily lives. As far as 2023 goes, several bills came to fruition and forever changed the state’s landscape.

We looked at some roundups from KUER and Deseret News to get an idea of which legislative actions might be the most impactful to you, both in your home life and the work you do with special districts. Here’s a look at what we saw as significant events during the session.

Water usage on properties
Two different passed bills affected landscaping. One notes that homeowners associations can’t prohibit someone from installing water-wise landscaping such as xeriscaping. Another bill funds a turf buy-back program, which pays a land owner for installing rock or other landscaping methods instead of grasses.

Water usage on farms
Another $200 million was given for agriculture optimization efforts. This is where water-saving tools can be installed on ranches and farms throughout the state, as well as an updating a program to make updates and revisions to irrigation canals.

Zoning changes for affordable housing

The passed amendments will give those building affordable housing more leeway to create it close to available public transit.

Development changes for housing

A series of bills that became law are meant to make development go faster through the bureaucratic process and create more localized controls on what gets built. This is to further encourage more housing at a time when the state is said to be in a housing crisis.

One developer district bill didn’t pass
At the last moment, some legislators tried to pass a bill giving developers the right to create their own districts for financial infrastructure. It ended up not advancing past the Senate committee stage.

A big tax cut
Like last year, taxes were cut by more for residents and businesses. In all, it was a whopping $400 million tax cut package, with about $240 million also dedicated to tax decreases. That last figure includes $32 million to lower the state gas tax by two cents per gallon and $146 million to keep in place the property tax levy freeze in recent years.

We’re tracking progress on how these laws will be enforced, and if there will be special sessions in the coming months to address some aspects of life in Utah that weren’t tackled. Go to the UASD website to learn more about the legislature in general.