Motion Sheet - 1/11/2022CITY COUNCIL OF SALT LAKE CITY
451 SOUTH STATE STREET, ROOM 304
P.O. BOX 145476, SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH 84114-5476 SLCCOUNCIL.COM
TEL 801-535-7600 FAX 801-535-7651
COUNCIL STAFF REPORT
CITY COUNCIL of SALT LAKE CITY
TO: City Council Members
FROM: Sam Owen, Policy Analyst
DATE: January 11, 2022
RE: Establishing the city’s designated water service area by ordinance and attached map
ISSUE AT-A-GLANCE
Constitutional amendment D was passed by the voters during the general election of 2020. The amendment was
made to apply to the section of Utah’s constitution that deals with water rights and service. The Council now has
the opportunity to consider a water service area map for the city, that comes from changes made in this
amendment.
BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT
The amendment codifies the long-standing practice of municipal water service across city boundaries. Some
communities in the valley receive water from suppliers located outside their boundaries. Salt Lake City is a water
service provider that serves water to cities outside its city limits.
The amendment would be implemented in part through a bill that took effect automatically on the voters' 2020
approval. This new state law requires municipalities to adopt maps showing the area where the city serves water,
if it does. Another aim of the amendment was to enable water service entities to clarify and confirm water service
area boundaries for transparency and reliability.
The water service area reflected in the proposed amendment to city code is the water service
area where the city has historically delivered water to users.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
- Customers of SLC water outside SLC boundaries pay a higher rate for water by about one-third.
- The city's regular rate setting process involves outside financial advisors and the City Council's review
and decision. One such rate setting review and engagement process is gearing up (as it does on cycles of
about five years).
- This higher rate is determined through that process to be the amount that corresponds to the relative
risk to SLC water users of liability in the event of regulatory or other major issue with the utility.
Item Schedule:
Briefing: January 11, 2022
Public Hearing:
Potential Action:
Page | 2
- The higher county water rate also factors in SLC property owners' historical investment in the city's
water infrastructure, as well as the ongoing property tax assessment paid to the Metropolitan water
district by SLC property owners.
Attachments
1. Administration’s transmittal (including proposed map)
APPENDIX
“Under very limited circumstances, the City also allows others to use its untreated water resources outside of
[the city’s] water service area in the canyons east of the [valley]… Examples include… [some individual mountain
cabins, ski areas, the Town of Alta]… Customers [in this context] have contractual access to a limited amount of
the City’s untreated water and have complete responsibility to build all infrastructure and assure the water is
safe to drink…
These areas are not included within the City’s proposed Designated Water Service Area ordinance and map.”