Along with SB66, the House was still considering SB222 Wednesday night. That bill would require cities to conduct a feasibility study for any project that would compete with a similar private business located within 15 miles.

Bullock said both state and local leaders need to create a "broad perspective" about services, with the eventual intent of establishing some guidelines.

"You need to have the parameters, but there needs to be a lot of flexibility," he said. "It's a delicate balance."

Along with UTOPIA, other issues that impacted local governments included:

• Government immunity: Utah residents may find it less complicated to sue state and local governments because of a bill designed to establish clear governmental immunity guidelines. The measure passed late Wednesday night.

Sponsoring Sen. Leonard Blackham, R-Moroni, called the measure a "miracle bill" and said it forges a balance between governmental immunity and the rights of the public sector.

• Local referendums: Utah senators killed a measure Feb. 6 that would have prohibited a local ordinance from taking effect if a referendum on the matter has been placed on the ballot.

Sen. Beverly Evans, R-Altamont, sponsored SB8 as a response to a petition by Hamilton Land to rezone 300 acres of farm land in Riverton to construct a housing development. Residents had challenged the development through a referendum.

• Firefighter retirement: A push in the final days of the session to balance the budget led senators to attempt to shift their contributions to the firefighter retirement fund to the local level. While the state would have saved $9 million, cities and counties would have had to foot the bill. Eventually, amendments only slightly reduced the state's contribution and legislators had to find other ways to balance the budget.

• Court fees: In an attempt to get reimbursement for housing city residents in county jails, improving security at juvenile courts and improving record keeping at justice courts, the Senate approved a $32 fee on all justice court fines. The House killed the bill once Tuesday but asked to reconsider it Wednesday, meaning the $9 million in revenues might still find their way into county coffers — depending on what lawmakers did before midnight.

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E-mail: jloftin@desnews.com; abenson@desnews.com