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SALT LAKE CITY — A hefty draft bill that would replace the Utah Transit Authority's volunteer board with three full-time trustees and keep the top boss was passed unanimously Thursday by members of a legislative task force.
The most controversy over the draft bill at the task force meeting, however, was about increasing registration fees for electric and hybrid vehicles. The draft bill will be finalized and considered this session.
Environmental groups, car dealers and others testified that boosting the registration fee from the current $44 for most vehicles to $75 for hybrid and to $200 for electric vehicles would make Utahns less likely to buy cleaner-fueled cars.
Rep. Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, the co-chairman of the task force, said the increases were based on what an average driver pays in gas taxes annually, about $170 to $180 and intended to ensure everyone contributes to road costs.
The bill, which would make state transportation funds available to UTA for the first time, also imposes sales tax increases in counties that haven't already approved the maximum amount of local taxes for transit.
The sales tax provision would kick in on July 1, 2022, adding whatever hasn't already been passed by then of the full 1.05 percent available as a local option tax in counties with mass transit.
For Salt Lake and Utah counties, where voters rejected a ¼ of a cent increase for transportation known as Proposition 1 in 2015, sales taxes would go up that amount under the draft bill in 2022.
The task force met throughout the interim and had been expected to decide on proposed legislation before the start of the 2018 Legislature, but got it stuck on how UTA should be run.
The transit agency has been the subject of multiple critical legislative audits and signed a non-prosecution agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office last year in exchange for agreeing to cooperate with an ongoing federal investigation.
A number of options were considered, including the state taking over UTA. But there were issues with the state taking over the transit agency's $2 billion in debt, so the focus shifted to changing the governance structure.
Under the draft bill, the 16-member volunteer UTA board would be eliminated in favor of three full-time trustees nominated by local government and appointed by the governor with the consent of the state Senate.
The CEO and president position, now held by Jerry Benson, would become an executive director post. The draft bill calls for a new, nine member local advisory board to set compensation for the trustees and make recommendations.
