THE BUDGET – PART TWO

Okay, part two of taking a look at Governor Cox’s budget recommendations on growth-related topics.

As discussed in an earlier post, we have been approaching statewide issues in Utah with location-specific regional entities like MIDA, Inland Port and so on.  The budget recommends funding for further work by some of these entities:

“Other projects with significant transportation and quality-of-life benefits such as The Point and Inland Port will be key to the economic future of our state. With an initial $141 million investment, The Point will be a transformational attraction that serves as an innovative model for integrating housing, employment, recreation, and services that are linked by highways, transit, and active transportation. The Inland Port will connect rural economies to major ports throughout the nation, attracting capital investment in the modern economy and helping to keep goods moving in, out, and through Utah smoothly.”

Future water resources for growth in our state is a topic that has been rapidly rising on the list of growth concerns of citizens and officials. Here are some of the water recommendations in the proposed budget:

• $200 million for secondary water metering, with an aim to increase water conservation.

  • $1.5 million to help incentivize homeowners to rip out their lawns.
  • $8 million for watershed health.
  • $25 million to rehabilitate Utah Lake.
  • $50 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds, in addition to $20 million already appropriated, for agricultural water conservation efforts.
  • $75 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds, on top of $25 million already appropriated, to bring clean water to Westwater for the first time from nearby Blanding and improve drinking water systems in other small rural communities.
  • $890,000 from water fees to aid local communities in maintaining drinking water standards.
  • $100 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds for a local match program to help local cities and towns fund additional water infrastructure.
  • $500,000 to begin planning and developing future water storage solutions.
  • $4 million for a watershed restoration initiative plus $1.5 million to the Shared Stewardship initiative to improve watershed conditions, increase water yields and reduce wildfires.
  • $1 million for pre-fire mitigation and $2.5 million to restore fire-ravaged landscapes to protect drinking water quality.

In addition, Governor Cox is recommending some specific initiatives for restoration and preservation of Great Salt Lake:

“To ensure responsible future management of the lake and surrounding wetlands, the governor recommends $600,000 in restricted funds to update the Great Salt Lake comprehensive resource management plan. In addition, the governor recommends directing $45 million of the state’s ARPA funds toward Great Salt Lake preser- vation efforts on top of $5 million appropriated in May for a total of $50 million. These efforts will enhance and direct water flows to the lake, restore and preserve wetlands and upland habitat, and integrate the Great Salt Lake into water and land use planning. Similarly, $25 million of the state’s ARPA funds will be used to rehabilitate Utah Lake and improve its water quality.”

And let’s not forget transportation, which is always closely tied to land use and growth issues.  In a story yesterday in the DesNews (https://www.deseret.com/utah/2021/12/8/22824661/the-secrets-out-utah-seeing-remarkable-population-growth-heres-how-much-because-of-migration-census ) on growth in Utah and related budget recommendations, State Planning Coordinator Laura Hanson says about the transportation proposal:

“the budget includes $46.2 million for active transportation investments to combat issues surrounding air quality. These are bicycle facilities, sidewalks and trails so that people don’t have to drive a car if they don’t want to and gets people off the roads,” Hanson added. “We’ve actually had declining emissions over the last many years. It goes to show that when Utah puts our minds on a target … we’re really effective at accomplishing those goals. So, I think air quality is one that will continue to be a focus for us.”

There’s more in the budget as well on issues such as energy and air quality.  Take a look, it’s pretty readable, at https://gopb.utah.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/2021_12_07-Budget-Book.pdf

Now of course, these are all only recommendations that must be considered and approved by the state legislature.  Speaker Brad Wilson recognizes the challenges of the state’s high rate of growth. He also sees a role in bringing local jurisdictions into the mix, as he’s quoted in the DesNews story:

“Although the budget also includes $228 million to address affordable housing and homelessness, Wilson said that the issue is more related to supply and demand.

“We’ve got to do a better job of getting more supply into the market quicker; and we need our municipalities, in particular, to be a little more agile and a little bit quicker in terms of the way they approve projects so that we can fix this — that’s the only solution to get more supply into the market,” Wilson added.”

All this will make for an interesting 2022 state legislative session!