17-78-502. Taxes or service charges for municipal-type services -- Budgeting, accounting for, and disbursing of funds -- Annual audit.

783 words·~4 min read·/ut/title-17/chapter-78/17-78-502

A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.

Effective 11/6/2025

(a)If a county furnishes the municipal-type services and functions described in Section 17-78-501 to areas of the county outside the limits of incorporated cities or towns, the entire cost of the services or functions so furnished shall be defrayed from funds that the county has derived from:

(i)taxes that the county may lawfully levy or impose outside the limits of incorporated towns or cities;

(ii)service charges or fees the county may impose upon the persons benefited in any way by the services or functions; or

(iii)a combination of these sources.

(b)As the taxes or service charges or fees are levied and collected, they shall be placed in a special revenue fund of the county and shall be disbursed only for the rendering of the services or functions established in Section 17-78-501 within the unincorporated areas of the county or as provided in Subsection 10-2a-219(2) .

(a)For the purpose of levying taxes, service charges, or fees provided in this section, the county legislative body may establish a district or districts in the unincorporated areas of the county.

(b)A district established by a county as provided in Subsection (2)(a) may be reorganized as a special district in accordance with the procedures set forth in Sections 17D-1-601 , 17D-1-603 , and 17D-1-604 .

(3)Nothing contained in this chapter may be construed to authorize counties to impose or levy taxes not otherwise allowed by law.

(4)Notwithstanding any other provision of this part, a county providing fire, paramedic, and police protection services in a designated recreational area, as provided in Section 17-78-501 , may fund fire, paramedic, or police protection services from the county general fund with revenues derived from both inside and outside the limits of cities and towns, and the funding of those services is not limited to unincorporated area revenues.

(a)With respect to the budgeting, accounting for, and disbursing of funds to furnish the municipal-type services and functions described in Section 17-78-501 to areas of the county outside the limits of incorporated towns and cities, including levying of taxes and imposition of fees and charges under this section, each county legislative body shall separately budget and strictly account for and apportion to the costs of providing municipal-type services and functions for the following:

(i)the salaries of each county commissioner and the salaries and wages of all other elected and appointed county officials and employees;

(ii)the operation and maintenance costs of each municipal-type service or function provided, set forth separately as line items in the Municipal Services Fund budget;

(iii)the cost of renting or otherwise using capital facilities for the purposes of providing municipal-type services or functions; and

(iv)all other costs including administrative costs associated, directly or indirectly, with the costs of providing municipal-type services or functions.

(b)At all times these funds and any expenditures from these funds shall be separately accounted for and utilized only for the purposes of providing municipal-type services and functions to areas of the county outside the limits of incorporated towns or cities.

(6)To implement Subsection

(5):

(a)a budget shall be adopted and administered in the same manner as the budget for general purposes of the county which furnishes the municipal-type services and functions is adopted and administered, either as a part of the general budget or separate from it;

(b)funds for the purposes of furnishing municipal-type services and functions under this chapter shall be collected, held, and administered in the same manner as other funds of the county are collected, held, and administered, but shall be segregated and separately maintained, except that where, in the judgment of the county legislative body, advantages inure to the fund from coinvestment of these funds and other funds also subject to control by the county legislative body, the county legislative body may direct this coinvestment, but in no event may the funds to furnish municipal-type services and functions or the income from their investment be used for purposes other than those described in Section 17-78-501 ;

(c)expenditures shall be made in the same manner as other expenditures of the county are made; and

(d)any taxes levied under this part shall be levied at the same time and in the same manner as other taxes of the county are levied.

(7)An annual audit of the budgeting, accounting for, and disbursing of funds used to furnish municipal-type services and functions, shall be conducted by an independent certified public accountant.

Renumbered and Amended by Chapter 14 , 2025 Special Session 1