Taylor v. Heber City

Summary

The Utah Court of Appeals held that a Heber City ordinance was passed when the city council voted to approve it on December 17, 2024, even though the ordinance’s effectiveness was contingent on later development agreements. Because the appellants filed their ballot referendum application on January 23, 2025, more than five days after passage, the court affirmed summary judgment for Heber City.

Holdings

1. Appellants preserved the issue because they raised the ordinance's passage date before the district court in a manner that gave the court an opportunity to rule on it; they were not limited on appeal to the specific statutory interpretation argument advanced below.
2. A city ordinance is passed when the City Council completes the required deliberative process by voting on the ordinance, not when a later contingency is satisfied or a ministerial formality occurs. The ordinance therefore passed on December 17, 2024, when three of five council members voted for it.
3. The referendum application filed on January 23, 2025, was untimely because the ordinance passed on December 17, 2024, and the statutory five-day filing period had expired.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the ordinance was passed on December 17, 2024, when the City Council voted to approve it subject to a contingency, or on January 21, 2025, when the related development agreements were approved.
2. Whether Appellants preserved the issue for appellate review.
3. Whether the district court correctly granted summary judgment to Heber City because the referendum application was untimely.

Disposition

affirmed