City may act as distributing agent -- Collection of operating costs from users.
Utah Code § 10-8-17
in effect10-8-17. City may act as distributing agent -- Collection of operating costs from users.
(1) When the governing body of a city is acting as distributing agent of water, not the property of the corporation, outside of or within its corporate limits, the governing body may annually, before the commencement of the irrigation season, determine and fix the sum considered necessary to meet the expense of the current year for the purpose of:
(a) controlling, regulating, and distributing the water; and
(b) constructing and keeping in repair the necessary means for diverting, conveying, and distributing the water.
(2)
(a) The governing body may collect the sum described in Subsection (1) from the persons entitled to the use of the water, pro rata according to acreage, whether the acreage is situate within or without the corporate boundary of the city.
(b) The governing body may not appropriate or use the derived funds for any other purpose than the purposes described in Subsection (1).
(c) In the event that the governing body collects a greater sum in any one year than is necessary under Subsection (1), the governing body shall carry the excess to the account of the year next following and apply the excess to the purposes described in Subsection (1).
(d) The governing body shall enact an ordinance fixing and providing for the collection of the sum described in Subsection (1).
(3)
(a) Until the governing body collects the sum described in Subsection (1), the sum is a political subdivision lien, as that term is defined in Section 11-60-102, on the subject water rights and the land irrigated by the water, in accordance with Title 11, Chapter 60, Political Subdivision Lien Authority.
(b) If the lien amount is not paid in full in a given year:
(i) by September 15, the governing body shall certify any unpaid amount to the treasurer of the county in which the liened property is located; and
(ii) the county treasurer shall include the certified amount on the property tax notice required by Section 59-2-1317 for that year.
Amended by Chapter 197, 2018 General Session
Source: Utah Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel (le.utah.gov)URL: https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title10/Chapter8/10-8-S17.html?v=C10-8-S17_2018050820180508Fetched: 10/26/2026