Committee advances bill creating alternative path for county splits in very large counties

The Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee on Feb. 26 favorably recommended House Bill 212, which establishes an alternative path to split very large counties. Representative Tesher told members the bill does not itself split any county but would allow city resolutions representing at least one‑third of a county’s population to place a split question on the ballot for counties with populations over 1,000,000. A required feasibility study would inform voters before any election.

Representative Tesher said the measure was born of concerns about government size and responsiveness in very large counties, noting Salt Lake County currently is the only county meeting the population threshold. Senator Brammer asked if the bill would change the number of state senators; Tesher said it would not. After brief public comment, the committee voted 4–0 to favorably recommend the substitute.

Next steps: The committee’s favorable recommendation moves HB212 forward; the bill includes a requirement for a robust feasibility analysis before any ballot measure.