Transmittal - 1/27/2022
MARY BETH THOMPSON
Chief Financial Officer
ERIN MENDENHALL
Mayor
DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE
451 SOUTH STATE STREET, ROOM 245
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH 84114
TEL 801-535-6403
CITY COUNCIL TRANSMITTAL
________________________ Date Received: ___________________
Rachel Otto, Chief of Staff Date sent to Council: ______________
_____________________________________________________________________________
TO: Salt Lake City Council DATE: January 25, 2022
Dan Dugan, Chair
FROM: Rachel Otto, Chief of Staff__________________________________________________
Mary Beth Thompson, Chief Financial Officer___________________________________
SUBJECT: Free Fare February
STAFF CONTACT:
Rachel Otto – rachel.otto@slcgov.com
Mary Beth Thompson – marybeth.thompson@slcgov.com
Sara Montoya – sara.montoya@slcgov.com
DOCUMENT TYPE: Informative Item
RECOMMENDATION: N/A
BUDGET IMPACT: N/A
BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION: Mayor Mendenhall created the Free Fare February (FFF) initiative for
three reasons:
1. To help people get out of their cars and keep our air cleaner during a time when Salt
Lake City typically experiences winter inversions;
2. To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games; and
3. To gather some valuable data on how free fares impact transit use.
Ultimately, the Mayor has the desire to see fare-less public transportation systemwide, which is a
vision that we believe is shared by some Council members as well.
To launch FFF, Mayor Mendenhall joined Provo City Mayor Kaufusi and Ogden City Mayor
Caldwell to email numerous stakeholders, including other mayors, businesses, ski resorts, and
foundations, inviting them to participate in some way. The goal was to raise between $1 million
and $1.3 million to support the system for the month. All UTA bus and train services would be
free, including Bus, TRAX, FrontRunner, Streetcar, Paratransit, and UTA On-Demand.
rachel otto (Jan 26, 2022 10:38 MST)
rachel otto (Jan 26, 2022 10:38 MST)
01/27/2022
01/27/2022
Free Fare February
Transmittal to City Council
January 25, 2022
Page 2 of 2
Around 30 organizations offered to contribute either through a direct contribution, media
support, or by continuing to pay for a month of employee passes.
UTA requested that Salt Lake City accept the financial contributions to the Salt Lake City
Foundation (“Foundation”) and then transfer those contributions to UTA through an MOU. Using
the Foundation as a donation pass-through makes the financial and legal process quicker and
more streamlined.
The Donations that the Foundation will be accepting are as follows:
Dominion Energy $20,000
The Gibson Family Foundation $50,000
Intermountain Healthcare $20,000
UCAIR $15,000
High Valley Transit $20,000
Chevron $10,000
Although the Foundation will be accepting the donations and is not subject to Chapter 3.60 of the
City Code governing donations, the Foundation nonetheless will be compliant with City
requirements, and City Code requires that (1) each of the donors enter into a donation
agreement, (2) acceptance of the donation is done in consultation with the finance department,
and (3) the donations are not subject to conditions. Additionally, City Code requires that City
Council be informed of any donation prior to entering into a donation agreement which is
accomplished by this transmittal. Thus, the Foundation is following the same process that is
required by the City for accepting donations.
PUBLIC PROCESS: N/A
EXHIBITS: N/A
Signature:
Email:Garrett.Danielson@slcgov.com