Biskupski fires back at legislature's action by filing amended Port Authority suit

Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski has amended a lawsuit she filed in March challenging the constitutionality of the planned Utah Inland Port. The amended suit is in response to action taken by the 2019 Utah Legislature expanding the reach of the Utah Inland Port Authority. The filing also asks the Third Judicial District Court to issue a temporary injunction shutting down any activities of the Inland Port board until the lawsuit is decided.

The lawsuit’s main complaints remain over issues involved with land use and taxing authority that Biskupski claims the port legislation steals from the city. The changes to the original 2018 law creating the port were made in HB433, which was passed in this year’s legislative session after talks about the port between Biskupski and Gov. Gary Herbert broke down. The mayor said she broke off talks with the governor once she realized the state would not return land use and taxing authority for the port lands to the city.

HB433 expanded the Inland Post Authority’s reach beyond the original 16,000-acre parcel in the city’s Northwest Quadrant to other areas of the state and allows the board to join with other communities to promote the exporting of coal, oil, gas, hay and other commodities. The bill also removed a ban on cities bringing lawsuits against the authority.

“HB433 is proof that the state has no intention of negotiating in good faith or addressing any of the serious concerns raised by my administration, namely land use and taxing authority,” Biskupski said in a news release announcing the revised suit. “The bill made a bad deal for Salt Lake City even worse, and I hope has shown that city representatives need to finally stand united to fight this unprecedented attack on our residents.”

Other provisions of HB433 cited and objected to in the lawsuit include provisions that would give the authority 100 percent of the city’s property tax increment, give the port a portion of the city’s sales tax revenue and allow the port authority to substitute its judgment for the city’s own land use appeals in the port authority’s jurisdiction. HB433 also increases the period of time the port authority can take the property tax increment from 25 years to 40 years.

The injunction sought by the mayor asks the court to prevent the port authority from spending or committing any of the city’s property tax increment or sales tax revenue pending the outcome of the case. The complaint also asks the court to prevent the port authority from engaging in any planning, design or construction of site improvements or public infrastructure in the jurisdictional area. The state has authorized a $5 million loan to the port for infrastructure improvements. The loan would be paid back by city property tax increment.

Named as defendants in the amended lawsuit are Herbert, the state of Utah, the Utah Inland Port Authority and Attorney General Sean Reyes.